


Weather Phenom

by Icka M Chif (mischif)



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blanket Permission, Blizzard of '68, Friendship, Gen, Historical References, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 07:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mischif/pseuds/Icka%20M%20Chif
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1818, Aster meets a strange boy with white hair standing in the middle of the North American Great Plains. </p><p>Things never are quite the same after that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weather Phenom

**Author's Note:**

> This was a challenge to myself based off Rufftoon's [Weather Phenom](http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/post/58678302184/old-hills-is-nature-a-conscious-thing-or-a-set) comic to write Bunny based off only the information in the movie, Rufftoon's comics, or the offical [RotG Story Movie App](http://favorite-frozen-things.tumblr.com/post/69124594706/bunnymund).  
> Which meant no aliens, no Pooka, and strangely enough, no chocolate.  
> Timeline at the bottom. 
> 
> Warning in advance: Yes, a sequel is planned, Aster has a fookin' weird sense of humour. It takes 20,000+ words to get to the punchline.

* * *

**21 March 1818 +**

There’s a kid standing in the middle of the great grassy plain, staring at Aster with the biggest, brightest pair of blue eyes he’s ever seen.

And Aster has hung out with Nicholas St. North, and his blue eyes of Wonder, so that was saying something.

The kid was barefoot and holding a shepherd's crook, but there were no sheep around for miles as far as Aster could see, just lots and lots of Bison, who are meandering past, happily ignoring them. So that was a little odd.

The boy was also staring _at_ Aster, which was a little bit more odd. Aster had a good belief core, mostly in Europe, but this was the “New World”, belief in the Guardians was still hesitantly spreading westward with the settlers.

“Y’alright there, mate?” Aster asked when the kid continued to gawp at him.

That earned him a blink, and for a moment, Aster wondered if the boy was mute, or just dumb. Then suddenly the kid threw his arms up in the air, letting out a huge cheer. “You can talk!”

Aster was rocked back on his feet as the boy impacted against his chest, rail thin arms wrapping tightly around Aster. He wrapped an arm around the kid without thinking about it, keeping the boy from falling down in his enthusiasm.

“What do ya-” Aster paused as the cold leaking from the kid’s body registered, and the snowflakes trailing from his hair. Not a human. Spirit. Not terribly powerful either, unless Aster missed his guess.

Great. Aster was _not_ up for babysitting duty. Easter was tomorrow and he still had to extend the tunnels out to the new settlements so the ankle-biters got their googies.

Thankfully, the day after the Spring equinox was the earliest Easter could be, and it wouldn’t happen again for another 467 years. He liked having a little extra time to put into his googies.

As abruptly as the kid had glommed on to Aster, he let go and stepped back with a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that.” The kid said apologetically, looking embarrassed. “Got a bit carried away there.”

“No harm done.” Aster assured him. “Nice to meetcha kid, but if you’ll excuse me, I got some work ta-”

“Can I help?!” The kid brightened up.

Aster blinked, dumbfounded. “What?”

“Can I help?” The kid repeated, almost desperately. “You’re a Spring Elemental, right? Getting ready for the season? You looked like you were looking for something and I know the area pretty well…” He trailed off with a shrug, giving Aster a look full of hope.

“I…” It was on the tip of his tongue to say ‘no’. He didn’t deal well with others and he liked his solitude.

But he couldn’t exactly crush someone’s hope either. Especially when a little bit of his time was a small price to pay. And if the kid could help, he could get back to the Warren that much sooner to finish the preparations for tomorrow.

Aster ran a hand down his face. Fine. “Yeah.” He sighed. “People are movin’, so I’ve gotta extend me tunnels out towards the new settlements-”

“I know where they are!” Aster blinked as the wind seemed to pick the kid up, the boy hovering in midair. Talk about being nothing but skin and bones, the lad had to weigh hardly a thing. “Follow me!” He shouted zipping through the air.

Aster had to give it to the kid, he could move fast. The kid doubled back, waving impatiently and Aster dropped to all fours, giving himself a small shake before taking off at a good run. The kid cackled delightedly, as if it was the best thing ever, leading him on a merry chase across the great plains.

If Aster were honest with himself, it was the most fun he’d had in ages, aside from the buffalo chips all over the place. He was going to have scrub himself thoroughly to get rid of the stench before he got anywhere near his googies.

The kid landed on the top of a small rise, pointing down to a gathering of buildings below. “It was just a couple of houses this time last year.” He informed Aster. “Now it’s a small town.”

“Growin’ fast out there.” Aster mused, mentally marking the best place to have his tunnels come up. “Back in a tick.”

He tapped the ground with a foot, opening a tunnel beneath him. He hopped inside, mentally directing the tunnel to open up where he had mentally marked. He paused when he reached the opening, taking a chance to listen and sniff before peering out of the hole.

Perfect.

Satisfied, he dropped back down and bolted to where he’d left the kid waiting. The boy seemed worried when he first hopped out, which quickly faded to a grin. “Just had ta mark the town.” Aster grinned, reaching out and messing up the lad’s chilly hair. He got a laugh in return, the boy leaning towards him, into the contact.

“Next one?” Aster asked, releasing the kid and hopping slightly on the balls of his feet. Still had a lot to do, and a little time to do it.

“Follow me!” The wind picked up the boy, throwing him up into the sky once again, and Aster gave chase.

* * *

“And that’s it.” The kid said, perched like a bird on the top of his staff. They were far north, cold enough that their breath frosted in the air. “The farthest out settlement. At least until you reach Pacific, and visit San Francisco or something.”

“Got that covered.” Most of the population growth seemed to be currently westward. Aster didn’t really pay attention to the how or whys anymore, human politics were just that. Human.

His job was to get the eggs to the kids on Easter, to foster hope, and to defeat Pitch whenever the slimy bastard showed himself. Other than that, he didn’t care about what went on the surface.

Well, not that much anyway.

The words are on his lips that he’ll see the kid later, when he realises that the kid looked nervous, almost scared. “Wot’s yer name?” Aster asked instead, belatedly realising he’d never gotten that detail. The kid had mentioned that Aster was only the second spirit he’d ever met, the other one being ‘Old Hills’ about 15 years ago, but not the kids name.

“Jack.” The kid grinned at him. “Jack Frost.”

“I’m B…” He caught himself. He’d always hated the way North called him ‘Bunny’, as if his name was some sort of joke. “Aster. You can call me Aster.” He corrected himself, leaving the ‘Bunnymund’ part out of it as he offered his hand. It wasn’t entirely proper, but he didn’t think Jack was the type to care.

Jack’s grin was practically incandescent as he took Aster’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you Aster.” He said, as if he didn’t notice Aster’s gaff at all. Possibly he hadn’t.

“Same.” Aster gruffly agreed, an idea forming. “Look. I gotta get back. But you were a big help. So I was thinkin’.... Do it again next year?”

Jack’s expression fell when Aster said he needed to go, but he brightened at the offer of meeting again next year. “Yeah!” He grinned, the wind spiralling around him in a joyful burst. “I’d like that!”

Aster bit back a laugh as Jack caught himself, giving a small cough as he literally floated down to earth. “I mean. That’d be nice.” Jack said, clearly trying nonchalant and failing. “I’ll have to check my schedule. And stuff.”

“Riiiight.” Aster drawled, trying to keep a straight face and not minding that he failed. “How’s the morning of the Equinox? Here?”

“I think I can make it.” Jack smiled widely at him, but there was a genuine pleased warmth to it. “See you then?”

“Yup.” Aster nodded, and wasn’t surprised when he got tackled, Jack giving him a jubilant hug. Aster slung an arm around the kid and gave him a squeeze. “See ya next year.”

Jack released him and nodded, hands gripping his staff tightly, although his grin had faded to something uncertain. Aster opened a tunnel, then reached over and ruffled the kid’s hair again, just because he could.

The sound of Jack’s bark of laughter followed him through the tunnels and back to the Warren long after the tunnel closed behind him.

**21 March 1819 +**

He had just enough time to wonder if he got the time or location wrong before he’s tackled from above, Jack clinging to his back like a baby koala on its mum. “You came!” Jack announced gleefully, his voice slightly muffled from his mouth being pressed against Aster’s fur.

The feeling of relief unexpectedly blindsided Aster for a moment. He’d hoped that Jack would be here, but had been slightly worried that either Jack would forget, or that something would happen to the young spirit.

“You were expecting somethin’ else?” Aster drawled, twisting as much as he could see what he could of Jack. It wasn’t precisely a fair question, considering that Aster himself had had second thoughts about coming.

But he needed to extend his tunnels Westward, and things had gone much faster and smoother with Jack to act as a navigator. A couple hours of companionship was a small price to pay for Jack’s assistance.

“Nope.” Jack released Aster, grinned broadly at him, bright and honest, body twitching as if he was holding himself back from launching himself at Aster again for another hug. “It’s good to see you!”

Jack’s eagerness kind of hurt Aster’s chest. It had been a long time since anyone had said that to him.

It made him realise that he’d fallen out of the habit of being tactile. Last time he hadn’t thought about it, just reached out, but this time he felt hesitant, clumsy. He wasn’t used to company anymore, or people touching him because they were happy to see him.

He’d had a year to think about it, and can’t help the niggling thought in the back of his brain, wondering what Jack hoped to gain from this. What Jack’s angle was. The only time people sought Aster’s presence was when they wanted something from ‘the Easter Bunny’. Fight a war, create a holiday, protect new life.

He couldn’t remember the last time someone had wanted nothing more from him than his company.

“You too, Frostbite.” He dredged up a smile, tugging gently on the white hair that hung in front of the boy’s eyes, noting the way Jack leaned into it. “Ready?”

“Yup!” Jack leaped into the air, hovering there. “Ready when you are!”

Aster nodded, dropping to all fours. Jack took it as his signal to start flying. “I made notes where all the new settlements are at!” Jack shouted over the wind. “Everything’s growing!”

He chased after, setting aside his concerns and worries for the moment. There was nothing for it now, everything would be revealed in time. He’d just stay on his guard, as always.

But in the meantime, he could feel the touch of spring in the air, the hint of warmth on his face, the slumbering ground beneath him, the still cool air in his fur. There was potential here, in these untamed lands. Like in his beloved Australia, slowly filling up with cast-offs and intrepid explorers.

Not a bad time to grow.

**21 March, 1821 +**

Aster stretched as Jack jumped into the sky, ready to fly off and show Aster the new settlements. “Hold on a tick, kiddo.” Aster called, and Jack landed on the ground, a worried look on his face, as if expecting Aster to tell him his services weren’t needed.

“Relax, Jack. No big rush this year.” Aster smirked, cuffing Jack lightly on the back of his head. Easter wasn’t until the 22nd of April, a full month away. He had some wiggle room to play with instead of charging about all willy nilly.

Jack tilted his head to the side. “Late summer this year?”

Aster shrugged. Close enough.

“So I was thinkin’... I got a little time.” Aster offered. “While we’re mappin’ the settlements, got any favourite places ta visit? Unique landmarks?” He’d never had much of a reason to explore this region of the world before. He rarely felt the urge to leave his warren, save for Easter when he travelled to where his believers were. He could take a little extra time to spend with Jack.

Other than his promise to see him the next Spring, Jack had yet to ask him for anything. This would give the kid a chance to. Or if not, Jack was proving to be fairly enjoyable company.

Jack stared at him for a moment, then landed on the ground, twirling his staff for a moment before resting it on his shoulder. “Really?” He asked, peering at Aster’s face, as if expecting some sort of trick.

“Really.” Aster grinned. He needed to extend his tunnels out no matter what, no reason they couldn’t take the scenic route today.

Jack flipped up in the air with an excited cry. “There’s so much to see!” He chortled, practically vibrating with excitement as he started to float away. “Okay, most of it’s in the mountains, let’s get the grasslands done first, come on, come on come on!”

Aster laughed as he dropped down, chasing after Jack. 

Jack showed him the little hidden bolt holes of the prairie, where the bones of giant creatures that had live and died long before them rested. To hills of shale rocks where fish and plant life were preserved, looking like detailed ink smears between sheets of pale stone. 

They visited a giant natural monolith that stuck up from the surrounding forest like a lighthouse. They paused as Jack told local stories about it being the Bear’s House, the deep gouges in the side being caused by the claws. 

Jack took him over and into the giant mountain range that split the continent, under which a giant volcano slept. There were thermal pools of hot water with the most beautiful vivid jeweltone colours that made Aster’s fingers itch for his paints, and a geyser that spouted as regularly as clockwork. 

From there they went south, darting into the deserts, where the wind had hollowed the orange stone into natural rock arches, covered in just the barest dusting of snow that made them look other worldly, almost like they belonged on some distant planet other than the Earth.

There was a canyon, a little farther south, that was so deep the mighty river that carved it was a tiny shining ribbon below, and so wide that the other side of it looked to be almost on the horizon. The wind howled around them, bringing the sharp chill of ice, but Aster stared at how the light moved and interacted the rich warm colours for longer than he probably should have as Jack flew on the thermal currents. 

Jack mentioned that farther south, there were more caves and odd rock formations, but it didn’t tend to get cold enough to snow there much, just the occasional dusting, so he doesn’t visit very often. 

Jack brought them to the north, back into the mountains again where spires of stone rose from the lush dark forest, a dark warm red in the fading light of the sunset. They watched the last of the daylight fade away, the glimmer of the stars and moon above shining above them. 

“We should meet here next year.” Aster commented, mostly thinking outloud. He wanted to see it again in daylight, the contrast of the complementary colours, red and green. Maybe paint it. 

There was enough snow around that Jack was comfortable, but not so much that Aster couldn’t see the ground, like where they had been meeting. 

Jack’s answer was a grin was bright like the sliver of the moon above.

**22 March 1847 +**

“You okay, Jackie?” Aster inquired as Jack didn’t so much hug him as stumble forward and slump against him. He wrapped an arm around the winter sprite, supporting his light weight.

“Yeah.” Jack yawned, rubbing an eye. “Sorry. S’been a long winter. Wendigo showed up.”

“Wendigo?” Aster asked. The name was slightly familiar, but he couldn’t quite place the name.

“Cannibalistic winter spirit.” Jack grumbled. “Kept it before from physically manifesting, but couldn’t keep it from possessing some members of a late group of pioneers. Bastard brought in early storms to trap them back in October. The last of the Donner Party was just rescued a few days ago.”

“Cannibalistic?!” Aster felt his eyebrows rise in surprise.

“Yeah.” Jack nodded, looking worn out. “They didn’t have any food or supplies, and no one knew how to fish. They ate everything they could, but eventually…” He shrugged helplessly. “Half the group didn’t make it to Sutter's Fort. About half of those were, well…”

“I got it, Snowflake.” Aster tightened his grip on the kid, rubbing Jack’s narrow back. “You okay?”

“Would be better if I’d managed to kill the Wendigo.” Jack buried his face in the long fur of Aster’s chest. “Hate those things.”

Aster hummed in response, resting his head on top of Jack’s, wondering how the skinny little kid would fight a cannibalistic winter spirit.

Jack Frost was just full of surprises.

“Do you want to hold off runnin’ around today?” Aster offered. Easter wasn’t for two weeks, he could come back.

“Nah.” Jack shook his head, pulling away from Aster. “I’m good. Just a little tired. I’ll sleep once we’re done.”

“Alright.” Aster agreed. He thought about it for a moment, then slung Jack up on his back.

“Ah… Aster?” Jack stammered, suddenly all flailing long lanky limbs and staff, before half-curling himself into a ball and resolutely not moving.

“Hang on tight laddie, and point me where we need to go.” Aster directed, dropping down on all fours. “And I’m not some bloody horse, so don’t expect this to be a regular thing.”

Jack laughed, leaning forward so he was pressed against Aster’s back, fingers grabbing the leather of Aster’s bandoleer. “Got it.” He agreed. Jack’s voice was still a little subdued, but it was still amused enough to make Aster grin.

“Alright. Lay on MacDuff.” Aster announced. 

“Hey! I get that reference!” 

**22th March 1853 +**

“Hey, um… Aster?” Jack rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I hate to ask a favour, but could you use your tunnels to take me up towards the North Pole?”

North Pole? Aster frowned slightly, uneasy at the idea that Jack might be buddies with North. He squashed it down. “Any particular reason?”

Jack shrugged a shoulder. “There’s a heat wave going on in the Northern Territories, which means I can’t get into Canada, and the Arctic.” He grumbled. “It’s an early spring, I’m running out of places to try hibernate down here. I mean, I can do it, but...”

It probably wouldn’t be comfortable. “Hibernate?” Aster questioned, mostly curious.

“Yeah.” Jack rolled his staff between his hands, his eyes on the ground. “Winter, remember? Dunno about you Spring elementals, but I’m not a real big fan of scorching heat.”

Right. And young to boot. Jack wasn’t that strong when it came to ice or snow, the heat probably got to him a bit. So he estivated, spent the summer in a deep sleep, as opposed to hibernating, which was similar, but in wintertime.

Aster paused, realising that Jack had yet to meet his gaze at all today. A sense of disquiet filled him, and he reached out, hooking a finger under Jack’s chin and easing Jack’s face towards his. Jack resisted for a moment, then sighed, turning his head so Aster could see the far side of his face.

There was a dark bruise along one cheek. Aster didn’t know if it was from trying to get to the colder climates or if he’d tried to find someplace to estivate and lost, but either way, Aster felt something dark churn in his gut from that fact that someone or something had hurt Jack.

“I’ll do ya one better.” Aster motioned over his shoulder as he released Jack’s chin. “Y’can kip with me.” The offer was out of his mouth before he could think to censor it.

Jack gawped at him, giving Aster a moment to roll the thought around in his head. Just the Burrow, he could seal the door to rest of the Warren, protect it from any accidents. Especially this close to Easter.

Despite Jack’s mischievous nature, Aster figured after over a quarter century of meeting, he knew Jack well enough to trust that Jack wouldn’t be the kind to cause trouble in another person’s house.

And he’d feel better, knowing that Jack was safe. Aster was the Avatar of Spring and New Life, and while Jack wasn’t exactly _new_ , he wasn’t very old either.

“-If ya’d rather not, that’s apples too, I can take ya ta the Arctic.” Aster added when the moment stretched, Jack not saying anything, just staring at Aster with huge round blue eyes, looking very young.

“No.” Jack shook his head. “I… I’d love to. Stay with you. Thank you.” He said, the words stumbling and piling up on top of each other.

“No worries, mate. No skin off me nose.” Aster assured him. Although Easter was coming up fast, less than a week away, and he still had bunches to do. “Tell ya what. I’ve still got stuff I need ta do on my end, you get yer affairs in order, and pick ya up around noon at our usual spot in 5 days.”

He’d finish his lap around the world Easter Morning, then double back and pick up Jack once he was done. That way he didn’t lose speed, because once he returned to the Warren, he wasn’t going to want to leave for a while.

“Early spring this year.” Jack commented with a nod. “Okay! I’ll see you at the rock formations when the sun is high in five days!”

Which would give Aster enough time to put a lock on the door between the Burrow and the Warren, and not over think his offer.

He hadn’t had anyone in his space in… ages. This was going to be interesting.

Jack threw himself at Aster, hugging him tightly. “Thank you.”

Aster patted Jack’s back, hoping that he wasn’t making a huge mistake.

**27th March 1853 +**

“You’re here!” Jack’s shout echoed throughout the rock structures as he dove from the hole at the top of the main rock that made up their meeting place.

“Yup.” Aster couldn’t quite believe it himself. He’d been swinging back and forth all day on if he should show up or not, but in the end, he’d promised, and he’d keep his word.

He hadn’t been sure when he’d started meeting up with Jack every Spring Equinox, but that had worked okay. Enough for him to give it a shot.

Jack hugged him tightly, vibrating slightly and Aster realised that Jack was probably as nervous as he was. Somehow, that made him feel a bit better.

“Ready?” Aster asked, patting Jack’s back. “Do you have a bag or anythin’?”

“Nope.” Jack grinned, stepping away. “Just me.”

Aster knew he wasn’t the most sensitive when it came to other people, but even he picked up the falseness of Jack’s smile, and the implication that Jack didn’t have anything other than what he was wearing.

“Alright.” He gave Jack a small smile and opened a tunnel. “Follow me!” He shouted, jumping in. Jack hopped after him, and Aster could feel the cool breeze of Jack’s wind following him. Jack hooted and cheered as he flew and slid down the tunnel, making Aster smile slightly.

He barely remembered to make a left turn towards the end, to the new tunnel he’d opened that opened in the kitchen of the Burrow instead of the main entrance of the Warren. He ended up stumbling as he entered, unused to the suddenly limited area to land in.

Jack tumbled head over tail, crashing into Aster before landing on his butt on the floor, laughing happily as he did so. “That was fun!” He beamed up at Aster, looking so goddamn happy that Aster couldn’t help but to grin back.

“Ta.” He drawled, offering Jack a hand up. Jack took it, jumping lightly to his feet, and Aster re-wrote his mental plan of giving Jack a quick tour to feeding the boy. Kid was way too skinny. “Pull up a chair, you alright with Bread Puddin’?”

“Uh…” Jack gave him a blank look. “Yes?”

“Never had it-?” Aster smirked, releasing Jack to turn towards the sink. He grabbed the pitcher of water waiting by the sink, grabbed a couple of mugs and filled them, quickly gulping down half a mug before pausing to breathe. He put the other mug on the table, sliding it towards Jack and finished off the water he had.

Running around the world always made him thirsty.

He refilled his mug and sipped from it before unwrapping the ceramic dish he’d baked before he’d started delivering his googies. It was barely warm, but that was still better than stone cold. He grabbed a couple of plates, spoons, and a knife, cutting into the bread pudding.

“I kind of threw this together.” Aster said apologetically as he put two large servings onto the plates. “It’s bread pudding with some veg from the garden and a spot of cheese. I’m not a big meat eater.”

“That’s fine.” Jack said, sounding confused.

Aster turned, raising an eyebrow in silent question, setting a plate down in front of Jack. Jack looked at it with a slightly puzzled look.

“I… um.” Jack cleared his throat, looking very young. “I don’t usually eat-?”

“Ya don’t-?” Aster repeated. He didn’t have to eat either, but it helped keep his strength up, especially after Easter. And he liked eating, the flavours and textures.

Jack shrugged, cradling his staff closer to him as he looked down at the table. “I don’t get hungry. I’ve tried to eat before, windfall apples, ice frozen berries, whatever I can find and the animals don’t eat. But I don’t remember eating anything baked before.”

“Well.” Aster said slowly, setting his plate down. “I don’t eat all that often, but if it won’t make you ill, you’re welcome ta share whatever I’m eatin’. There’s plenty ta share.”

The grateful look he got made Aster’s stomach twist up in knots. It was such a little thing to Aster, and yet such obviously such a big deal to Jack. He summoned up a small smile, ruffling Jack’s hair. “And it’s nice to share a meal occasionally. Food tastes better with company.” He added.

Jack nodded, swallowing as if words were stuck in his throat. “Eat.” Aster urged, sitting down on the other chair. “I’ll give you a tour after.”

“‘kay.” Jack said quietly, picking up the spoon in one hand, still clutching his staff with the other. Aster watched as Jack broke off a spoonful of the bread pudding and took a tentative bite. Jack’s eyes went wide and he hastily scooped up a second bite, shoving it in his mouth.

“There’s plenty more if you want it.” Aster said with some amusement, eating some of his own pudding. Little bland, but not bad. It was filling, and that was all he cared about after a dash around the world.

They lapsed into silence, wolfing down their food. Aster got them seconds without prompting, taking Jack’s plate when he went to get more food for himself. Jack ate the second piece at a slightly slower pace, and a third as well.

“More?” Aster asked with some amusement as Jack polished off the third plate.

Jack shook his head. “I think I’m full.” He patted his stomach with a rueful smile. “Feels weird.”

Aster chuckled, making a mental note to feed Jack more often. Being full should feel comfortable, not ‘weird’. He collected their plates and put them in the sink to wash later. “C’mon, I’ll give you the cheap tour.”

“Thanks.” Jack said, using his staff to help him stand up. He paused and yawned, his jaw popping as he did so. “Sorry.”

“No worries mate.” Aster grinned. “It’s a short tour.”

Jack gave him a sleepy half-smile. “Lay on.”

Aster huffed in amusement and led Jack down the hall. He didn’t spend a terrible amount of time in the Burrow and it kind of showed. “So, Kitchen.” Aster motioned behind them. “Larder’s right next to it. Storage room is here-” He motioned to the next door, where he kept various bits and bobs, bedding and cleaning supplies. “Library and Bedroom.” He motioned to the end of the hall.

There was an outhouse in the Warren and he wondered if he should link a tunnel to that, just in case.

Jack perked up. “Library?”

One of Aster’s eyebrows rose. “Ya read?”

“When I can.” Jack shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal that he could. “I can’t usually touch books. If I find one abandoned, the wind can turn the pages for me, but mostly I eavesdrop in on people reading out loud. There’s outdoor plays and stage shows too. Shakespeare’s pretty popular, I’ve seen most of his works. The Scottish Play is quite popular.”

“Nice.” Aster grinned. He’d read all of Shakespeare’s works, but never thought to see the actual plays being done. He motioned for Jack to follow him, stepping inside the library and grabbing an egg next to the door and shaking it. It started to glow, illuminating the room.

The library was about the same size as the kitchen, twice the size as the bedroom, lined with bookshelves. A few smaller low bookshelves and a low couch and a couple of overly padded chairs were scattered in the middle for lounging in, depending on Aster’s mood. More glowing eggs were set up on shelves and tables, to read by.

Jack stepped in, his jaw dropping as he stared at all the shelves lined with books. “Wow…”

“I’ve been collecting books for a while, so got a pretty fair collection, if I do say so myself.” Aster smirked. His collection had grown a lot in the past couple centuries, the Gutenberg press making it much easier to print and collect books. Which also meant that since books were not re-written by hand, there was suddenly an influx of stories being created and printed. “You’re welcome to read any you want.”

“Any?” Jack breathed, running his fingers across the edge of a bookshelf in awe, a slight sheen of frost just tickling the wood before evaporating. “You sure?”

“Don’t harm ‘em and you’re apples.” Aster assured him, grinning with pleasure at finding someone else who liked to read as much. Jack nodded, eyes scanning the words on the spines of the books. Not all of them were in English, he collected books in what ever his followers spoke.

Aster chuckled quietly to himself, shaking a couple of more eggs for light before leaving Jack to it as he went back to wash the dishes and start cleaning up from Easter.

He didn’t know how much later it was when he remembered he had company and wandered back to the library to check on Jack, finding the winter sprite asleep, sprawled out in one of the chairs. Next to him was a book that had been propped up, Jack holding a ruler covered in frost, which he had no doubt been using to turn the pages without touching the book and harming it with his ice.

Aster smiled, watching the kid sleep for a moment before easing the ruler from Jack’s grip and setting him on the bookshelf next to him. “C’mon, kiddo.” He said, tugging Jack’s shoulder.

Jack murmured ineligible, eyes flickering open for a moment before drifting shut again. Aster rolled his eyes and knelt down, getting a hand under Jack’s knees, the other behind his shoulders and picking the boy up, Jack cuddling his staff closer to him, bopping Aster in the head with it.

Aster shook his head, brushing it off as he carried Jack down the hall, marvelling at how light the boy was, even after a huge meal. He set the kid down on the edge of the nest, Jack making a small whimpering noise as he curled around his staff, wrapping one ankle around it.

“Pleasant dreams, Jack.” Aster whispered, pulling a light blanket over the winter sprite before leaving him to rest. “See ya in the Autumn.”

**21 Sept 1853 +**

If Aster was honest with himself, he’d forgotten he had a houseguest. He’d checked on Jack when he took a nap in the nest, but other than that, having Jack in the Burrow really wasn’t something that crossed his mind.

Until he came in from the Warren to grab a bite to eat and found Jack standing in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the wall.

“j-Jack!” Aster yelped. Jack shuffled to turn and look at him, eyes at half-mast and clearly not awake.

Jack tilted his head to the side, then slowly shook his head as he turned back towards the kitchen table, mumbling something about strange broom closets. The kid plopped down on a chair, tilted forward so his head was resting on the table and began snoring.

Aster stared, heart pounding in his ears until he realised that Jack was asleep. Again.

He crept forward and nudged Jack’s shoulder. When Jack didn’t respond, he did it again, slightly harder. Jack still didn’t move so Aster backed up and watched him for a minute.

… Slow to wake, he concluded, deciding to leave the kid where he was.

He thought about it for a moment, then started pulling out ingredients for shepherd's bread, as well as some dried fruits and nuts to put in the thick bread. If he baked it as small loaves, he could give some to the lad to take with him when he left.

**21 March 1854 +**

“You estivatin’ with me this year?” Aster asked as the sunset, the two of them resting after running around North America for the day.

Jack stared at him, eyes round in hope and surprise. “You… Are you sure?” He stammered.

Aster shrugged. “Weren’t like havin’ around was an inconvenience.” He drawled, making light of the situation. He paused, then added more sincerely, “And I’ll make me feel better, knowin’ ya were safe as ya slept.”

Having Jack in the Warren where it was safe when the kid was at his most vulnerable… It was just logical. If it continued to work out, he might approach the kid in a few more years about making it a permanent arrangement.

Jack’s grin was nearly incandescent as he clutched his staff to his chest, as if to keep himself from throwing himself at Aster and hug him within an inch of his life. “Yeah.” He agreed.

Aster laughed, swinging a hand out to ruffle the kid’s hair. “Late one this year, pick ya up here in 25 days?”

“I”ll be here.” Jack agreed, so darn happy that Aster couldn’t help but to give him one more hug before he left to finish up Easter. Jack laughed, high and happy, making Aster’s heart glad.

So maybe the kid was starting to grow on him. A little bit.

**8 April 1860 +**

“Hey, Aster!” Jack greeted Aster with his normal enthusiasm, tackling him with enough force to send Aster back a step or two. Aster laughed, twisting to grab the kid in a giant hug, ignoring the buzz of joy he felt every time Jack did this.

It was always felt like a bit of a surprise, how happy Jack was to see him. He would have thought it would have worn off by now. But it was kind of addictive, the feeling of joy.

“Guess what?” Jack bubbled at him, almost vibrating. The brown cape he usually wore was gone, replaced by a slightly oversized charcoal coloured frock coat.

“You’ve decided ta become a ginger.” Aster drawled, his tone dry. He got a sharp bark of laughter and a shake of the head as Jack pulled back so they could see each other more easily. “New coat?”

“Yes, but that wasn’t it.” Jack smirked.

“Alright, what?”

“Overheard while waiting for you that this place now has a name!” Jack grinned broadly, gesturing to the red rock formations around them. “Couple of surveyors named it last summer. Talk is that they’re turning it into a park that’s free for the public to enjoy”

“Oh-ho.” Aster drawled. He wondered if they named it after some famous person. He was never sure how he felt about that, it wasn’t as if most people would know who they were in a generation or two. “So it now called-?”

“It is now officially-” Jack spread his arms wide. “The Garden of the Gods!”

Aster blinked, an ear twitching as he took in the view. Yeah, he could see it. Some of the older Greek ones probably would have loved it here. “Okay.” He nodded.

“Unofficially.” Jack dropped his arms, turning on his heel to smirk at Aster. “It’s the ‘Beer Garden of the Gods’.”

The laugh escaped from Aster’s throat before he was prepared for it. “That a hint, Jackie?” He grinned.

Jack shrugged back. “Any excuse to party, right?”

**23 Sept 1864 +**

“Hey, Aster?” Jack asked, slowly picking at his porridge. It had to be one of the few times Aster hadn’t seen Jack looking happy to be heading back up to the surface, spreading his cold and cheer.

Not surprising however, with the country of his birth embroiled in a battle that split it in two that had gone on for the past three years. A Civil War, over States Rights, Slavery, and a whole heap of politics. There were a lot of kids involved, kids that Jack tried to help, but when his appearance brought cold, even cold cheer, it tended not to go well.

It hurt Jack’s heart, which made Aster’s ache in return. Jack Frost was not meant for sorrow.

“What’s up, Frostbite?” Aster asked, resisting the urge to pet the boy’s hair. Jack would curl into him for a hug if Jack initiated it, but he was currently pulling away from casual affection, his body language tense and stressed.

“Where do you sleep?” Jack asked, resting his chin on a hand.

“Huh?” The question was so random that it threw Aster for a bit of a loop.

“You do sleep, right?” Jack waved a hand in the direction of the hallway. “I’ve only ever seen the one bed.”

“Only got th’ one nest.” Aster shrugged. “Slept there too. Ya ain’t exactly a space heater, but far from the worst person I kipped with.” Jack pretty much stayed in one place, Aster didn’t have to worry about him being a bed hog. And, he didn’t stink. Big plus there.

He’d had the unfortunate luck of sharing a guest room during one of North’s get togethers with one of the new spirits, Punxsutawney Phil, the Groundhog. Who farted like he had a dead rat up his arse, stinking up the entire room.

The less Aster had to deal with that fellow, the better.

He paused, realising that this might be one of those breakdowns between Pooka and Human Cultures, it wasn’t like he spent a lot of time on the surface observing. “Didn’t your kin have a family bed? Everyone piles up on the nest?”

Jack shrugged. “I… Don’t know.” He admitted, gesturing towards his head. “First memory I have is waking up from the ice with the full moon above me.”

“Ah.” Aster grimaced and nodded. Oldest gift he’d ever had, being able to stick his hindleg into his mouth to make a hash out of any situation. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine.” Jack said, holding up his hand with a crooked smile. It wasn’t nearly as bright as Aster was used to, the sparkle was missing from Jack’s eyes. “I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t kicking you out of your bed.”

“I don’t mind, and there’s plenty of room.” Aster assured him, then paused for a second, a stray thought hitting. “-Unless you’re not comfortable with it. I could always make ya your own room fer when you’re down here if you’d prefer. Been meanin’ ta ask if you wanted to turn this arrangement permanent like anyway.”

Jack stared at Aster, his jaw slack with shock.

“What?” Aster stared back. “You’re not rubbish company.”

Jack’s face twisted up in a hesitant, hopeful expression. “-You sure? I can sleep down here in the summer?”

“Yeah.” Aster shrugged. “I like havin’ ya around.” Jack spent most of his time down here sleeping, but still, it was nice knowing there was a living person down here too. Three days of conversation a year was more than he was used to, but not pushing his comfort limits too terribly much.

“Okay then.” Jack grinned. “Yes.” He still looked tired and worn, but sincere. Aster smiled back, happy at both Jack’s agreement, and at the rekindling of light in Jack’s eyes.

Yeah, things weren’t good right now, but Aster had seen this pattern before. They’d get better again.

They just had to hold on to hope.

**13 April 1873 +**

Aster wrapped his arms around his torso, huddling into himself as he attempted to peer into the depths of the swirling snow around him. “JAAAACK!” He shouted, his words being pulled away by the howling winds. His teeth chattered from the cold in the aftermath.

It hadn’t been this blasted cold when he’d hidden his googies here earlier. He didn’t know how he was supposed to find the kid in all this mess.

His ears twitched as he thought he heard a voice calling in the distance. Then the wind howled and he pressed them against his back to try to keep the warmth. “JACK!” He barked again.

The wind howled around him, and then he was hit by something that sent him tumbling head over teakettle into the snow. “Found you!” Jack gasped in his ear, voice torn between worried and surprised, his hands digging into Aster’s fur and holding on.

The urge to shout at the kid was high, but getting warm took a higher priority. He grabbed Jack and opened a tunnel, throwing both of them down into it and sealing the entrance behind them.

The silence inside the tunnel was nearly deafening after the fierceness of the winds outside. “What the bloody hell was that, Frostbite?!” Aster growled, the snow in his fur starting to melt, making him feel even colder.

“It’s not me!” Jack panted. He eased his grip on Aster, rolling over to lie on the floor of the tunnel, his chest heaving. “I can’t make storms like that!”

“Then who-?” Aster got distracted by a full body shiver. “Home first.”

Jack nodded, kicking his legs up, then flipping to his feet. “Let’s get you warmed up first.”

“Too right.” He muttered, dropping to all fours and leading Jack down the tunnel. His limbs felt stiff, the little bit of air rushing past chilling him to the bone. He couldn’t quite get to full speed. Thankfully Jack said nothing about that, following along. Aster noticed after a little while that Jack seemed to be limping slightly. “Y’right?”

Jack ran a hand through his hair, which stuck up, thick with moisture. “Been better.” He admitted. “Kids were out this morning, looking for eggs. I had to fight to keep it clear while they were out.”

“... Fight?” Aster inquired. He’d seen the weather react to Jack’s moods, fluffy fat snowflakes when he was happy, grey and overcast when he was melancholy, but he’d never seen Jack actively try to influence the skies.

“Every so often, other… um. How did Old Hills put it?” Jack made an annoyed face. “‘Weather Phenom’ show up. Old Hills mentioned the Tornado Twins, who loved to destroy stuff. The blizzard was a new one, I’ve never seen them before. They don’t… They don’t have a physical appearance, like you or me.”

Aster made a thoughtful sound, his brain moving sluggishly in the chill. Now that Jack mentioned it, the snow had felt completely different than Jack’s sparkling bursts of flakes. Harsher. Angrier.

Deadly.

“And ya stopped it?” Aster asked, eyebrow going up. Jack wasn’t exactly the confrontational type, preferring flight over flight, and he doubted Jack realised what the significance of today being Easter.

He’d noticed that Jack generally didn’t have a good grasp of days of the week, much less holidays that landed on dates as opposed cycles of the moon or sun. The consequences of living outdoors as a nomad, he supposed, having no place to keep a calendar.

“Kind of.” Jack shrugged a shoulder, then grimaced. “There were kids out.” He said, as if that explained everything.

Maybe it did. Jack may not have been a Guardian, but he did watch over the children, bringing them joy during the dreariest part of the long dark season. Sometimes Aster wondered if there was a reason for it other than the fact that Jack looked barely out of short pants himself.

If there was, Jack hadn’t mentioned it.

“Thanks.” Aster said quietly. Even if Jack had no idea that he’d saved Aster’s holiday, it still meant a lot to him.

Jack smiled back. It was a little lopsided, and it looked like he had the start of a shiner around one eye. Aster smiled back, his shoulders relaxing as they approached the warmth of his home. “I’ve got some salve fer those bruises o’ yers, if you’ll help me with my fur.”

“Deal.” Jack grinned.

**22 Mar 1888 +**

“You right, Jackie?” Aster asked as Jack touched down on the ground and seemed to crumple. Aster swung an arm out to catch him, and Jack grabbed it, staying up right by balancing between Aster and his staff.

“Been better.” Jack gave him a smile that was more a wry twist of his features. He had dark smudges under his eyes, like he was sleep deprived. “Blizzards were bad this year. Let me just sit for a moment, then I should be good to run.”

“Alright.” Aster frowned, escorting Jack to a nearby boulder to sit down on, resisting the urge to just pick up the lad and carry him. “How bad was it?”

“Alchemist pissed off some Air Elementals.” Jack asked, easing himself down. “Think he tried to bind some Sylph, and they took offense.”

Aster shivered. There were four kinds of Elementals that Alchemists dealt with, each associated with an element. Sylphs were of the air, Undines with the Water, Salamanders were Fire, and Gnomes of the Earth.

He’d dealt with a few Gnomes in his time. They were not to be confused with the statues of the pointy hatted garden statues. They were practically invisible, even to him, running through solid rock as if it didn’t exist. Generally shy, but highly destructive if their anger was provoked.

High ranking Alchemists occasionally tried to bind various Elementals to them, to help them with their Magick. Sometimes it went well, forming a mutually beneficial partnership.

Sometimes it went wrong, and things like Pompeii happened.

“How long ago?” He asked, voice low as he sat down next to Jack. The lad didn’t lean into him, which was odd, Jack usually soaked up contact like a thirsty man did water.

Jack sighed, his eyes falling in a half droop. “Couple of weeks after I woke up and came to the surface.” Jack sighed.

Aster flexed his fingers, feeling his claws itch, thankful Jack had been in the protections of Warren during the Autumn Equinox. He didn’t think Alchemists could bind either of them, but he was in no hurry to find out by accident.

“I knew they were there, but I couldn’t see them and they wouldn’t talk to me.” Jack continued, not noticing Aster’s aggravation. “The storms rolled into the Northern Plains and never left. Snow was so high, the trains couldn’t get through.”

Trains were the lifeblood of the country, bringing much needed supplies, news, and settler across the land. Steam engines constantly needed water, so every 10 to 20 miles, there was a stop. Some grew into towns that Aster visited on Easter, some didn’t.

“Then about a month after the Solstice, the snow stopped. Couple of beautiful clear days, lots of kids out playing, it was great.” Jack slouched, his shoulders curling in. “Parents sent their kids out to play or to school, anticipating the weather to stick through the day.”

“Oh, no.” Aster whispered, a foreboding chill going down his back.

Jack nodded. “The temperature suddenly plummeted, far below freezing. The storms came back, harder and colder than before, you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. Kids died trying to get back home, school houses ran out of fuel for the stoves, people out enjoying the day froze to death. I helped get one schoolhouse to the teacher’s home, which was stocked with coal. Helped a couple of kids hide inside of haystacks… But there were so many more…”

Aster leaned, touching Jack’s shoulder with his own. He didn’t pull away, but he didn’t move closer either. “Ya did what you could.” It had been an organised, tactical attack, no doubt to try to draw the Sylph’s prey out for them to kill.

“It wasn’t much, the wind wouldn’t carry me, I had to run everywhere.” Jack shook his head. “Thought afterwards maybe they caught the Alchemist, calmed down.” He said wearily. “Then last week… They came back as a bad Nor'easter. Bigger than before.”

“From Montreal to Washington DC and everything in between.” Jack said, gesturing expansively. “There’s snowdrifts covering three story houses. People are trapped where they live, telegraphs, and trains are down. And now that the snow’s starting to melt, there’s flooding.”

Jack ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not strong enough to stop Spirits like that.” He said, voice shaking. “If they didn’t get him this time, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“They corporeal?” Aster asked.

“Corpor… Oh! You mean have a body?” Jack shook his head. “Not like us. Or humans.” Elementals could pass through their bodies, like they walked through Humans. Not necessarily pleasant, but not permanently damaging either.

Aster shrugged. “Not much ya can do then.” It was one of the problems with fighting Pitch, his damn shadows. Never knew if where or when they were going to be solid. You could go swinging blind through them one second, only for the shadows to develop spikes that tried to skewer you the next.

Light helped when fighting shadows, but he didn’t think that would work on Sylphs.

Jack took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Still…”

“No.” Aster put his hand on the back of his neck and gently squeezed, like he would an unruly kit. “No ‘buts’, no ‘still’. I know ya, Jackie. Ya did what you could. Mourn the ones that were lost, but remember the ones you saved, keep those in mind.”

Jack twitched, muscles tensing, then slowly relaxed in Aster’s grip. “Okay.” He quietly agreed, slumping against Aster. “Okay…”

Aster sighed, wrapping an arm around the lad. “It’s not an easy thing.” He murmured. And something he still struggled with. A lot.

Jack nodded, half nestling against him. “We should get going.” He said, and Aster could hear the weariness in his voice. 

“Any new settlements I haven’t marked yet?” Aster asked. The land rush had slowed for the moment, although there was still plenty of open land. Their yearly run had mostly turned into an excuse to chase each other around the past couple of years.

“Few mining towns in the Southwest.” Jack offered after a moment’s thought, voice half muffled against Aster’s fur.

“Alright.” Aster nodded. “Tell ya what. I was gonna pick ya up in about a week anyway, why don’t we make it a slightly earlier Spring this year? It’s a late one next year, we’ll spend some extra time mappin’ things out.”

The main thing Jack could do right now was re-freeze the melting mounds of snow, which created its own kinds of hazards. Easter was 10 days away, not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.

Jack was silent for a long while. Aster waited, giving him time to think it over, idly rubbing Jack’s back as he did so. It was actually kind of nice, a peaceful break from the frantic preparations of Easter, watching the shadows change against the red rocks of the Garden.

“Okay.” Jack agreed, sounding like he did when he was just waking up. “But we’re doing a full run next year.” He added stubbornly.

“Good plan.” Aster nodded. “C’mon then. You need a lift?”

“No.” Jack said sulkily, pushing himself away from Aster and standing up, resting a lot of his weight on the staff. “I can make it.”

Aster hid a smile at the kid’s determination. “Right you are.” He agreed, standing up and opening a tunnel.

If he were to go a little slower than he normally would down the tunnels, well, Jack didn’t argue.

**23 April 1915 +**

Aster limped into his home, feeling physically sore and heart sick. It had only been a small skirmish with Pitch, mostly posing, a show of force. The King of Nightmares was getting weaker.

That didn’t mean Pitch was getting any less tricky to deal with. ‘Weaker’ meant more desperate. And with a war that was covering most of the world above, there was a lot of fear for him to feed off of, even if it wasn’t fear of him.

Jack said it was known as ‘The European War’ in America, but to the rest of the world it was ‘The Great War’.

They had been in Ypres, Belgium, where the Germans had unleashed poisonous gas for the first time. It was a cruel thing, one that had been banned by most of the world in 1899. The mustard coloured chlorine gas had floated through miles of the trenches, asphyxiating and blinding the soldiers on the other side, forcing them to climb out of the trenches, where they were shot down by guns.

Thousands were dead. Many of them still in their teens, barely out of the Guardian’s reach, having lied about their age to fight. There wasn’t enough time to retrieve and bury them all. The carrion eaters would feast tonight.

North had mentioned a ‘Christmas Truce’, not four months prior. Soldiers on both sides laying down their guns, walking across the trenches and making friends with the people who had been shooting at them days, weeks earlier.

North had run into Pitch there, the two of them talking without fighting. But then North still hoped to persuade Pitch over to their side, to join the Guardians.

Aster thought North was a knob. Trusting the enemy only resulted with a knife in the back.

He paused in the doorway of the bedroom, spotting Jack was curled up on the nest. It’d been less than two weeks since Jack had come down, worn out and exhausted from the fighting above. But now the kid’s face was lax with sleep, looking peaceful and innocent as only a child could.

Unharmed. Untouched. Safe.

Aster stopped and leaned against the doorframe, just watching Jack sleep, letting the calm be a balm to his frazzled nerves. Jack didn’t breathe much when he was asleep, deep into torpor, but there was a soft faint wheeze as he exhaled every so often, enough to let Aster know he was alive.

This much. This much Aster could protect.

A yawn blindsided him, weariness sucking him down again, reminding him of the physical aches he still had. Pitch had gotten a good kick on Aster’s side, bruising the ribs. He needed to sleep, and to heal.

He climbed into the nest, careful not to disturb Jack, then curled up to sleep. Usually he slept on the far side of the nest to allow for Jack’s human sensibilities, but tonight he shuffled in close. Near enough that his fur brushed and moved every time Jack breathed, resisting the urge to wrap around the kid like a shield.

The impulse lasted until Jack stirred in his sleep, rolling over and latching on to Aster, the silver hair of his head blending in with the white hair on Aster’s chest. Aster let out a soft breath, relaxing as he wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders, holding him safe and sound.

The monsters couldn’t get them here.

**31st March 1918 +**

"Where are we?!" Aster asked, popping his head out of the tunnel. All he could see were buildings, buildings, buildings, with no sense of which way might have been south.

This was not where he meant for them to end up. He rubbed his forehead, trying to fight off the headache that had been following him for about a month.

Easter had been barely a week after the Equinox this year, putting him on a tight schedule this year. There was the start of what felt like a pandemic, nurses and doctors pulling on Hope fairly strong for an end to this virulent strain of flu. Then the Solar Storms had started up, resulting in amazing aurora borealis that were able to be seen in areas that normally didn’t see them.

-To the point that all the Guardians had all showed up at the Pole a few weeks ago, thinking that North had triggered the alarm. North had to tweak his alarm system after that, altering the colours so it didn’t confused with a natural aurora.

They also tweaked with his direction sense a little bit.

By this point, all Aster wanted to do was get home, have a quick meal, then curl up in the nest with Jack and sleep for the next little while.

Jack launched himself out of the tunnel, flying up to the top of one of the tall grey metal and concrete boxes and perching on the rooftop. He let out a loud crow-like cackle. "I think we're in Brooklyn." He gleefully called back.

Aster sighed, shaking his head. "I knew I should have made a left at Albuquerque." He grumbled.

Jack laughed, doing a backflip off the rooftop and landing next to Aster, a wide grin on his face. Aster glared back at him, then headed back down into the tunnels. "Not a word."

Jack chortled the entire way home.

**6th April 1926 +**

“Did you know…” Jack’s voice was soft and thick with sleep as Aster carried the winter spirit down the hall to the bedroom. “That we’ve known each other for over a hundred years now?”

“Oh?” Aster gently inquired. Jack made a sleepy contented sound as he rubbed his cheek against Aster’s shoulder, cuddling closer. It hadn’t seemed that long since they’d met each other. Or since he’d opened his home with Jack.

To Aster, a century wasn’t a very long time at all.

“Mmm. Yeah.” Jack sighed, his breath slowing enough that Aster thought that Jack had fallen asleep mid thought. Heh. Kids.

Jack stirred slightly as Aster set him on the nest, loosening Jack’s grip on him. “So...” Jack continued, picking up his train of thought. “Doesn’t matter how old I get now… I’ll have known you for over half my life.”

Aster’s breath hitched, Jack’s words hitting him like a punch to the chest. A century wasn’t long for Aster, but it was an eternity for a young spirit. “I’m honoured.” Aster said quietly, running his hand over the cold silver locks on Jack’s head. “To have known you so long.”

Jack hummed, a soft contented sound as he finally drifted off, a small smile on his lips. Aster sighed, pulling the blanket higher on Jack’s shoulders, before giving Jack’s head one last pat before rising to head to the gardens and wrap things up for the year.

He hadn’t meant to make such a large impact on Jack’s life. Aster liked his solitude, he had his work, he didn’t want for anything else.

Searching his thoughts however, he couldn’t find it in himself to regret meeting Jack Frost.

**11 May 1934 + ******

Aster rubbed his shoulders and upper arms, as if to warm himself. He could feel it in his bones, both the waxing and strengthening of Hope, changing from a gentle presence to something almost desperate.

That, plus Jack’s worrying stories of the surface, had sent Aster up to the Great Plains where he had met Jack Frost to look for himself.

There were so many changes on the surface. Concrete where there once was earth. Buildings that reached to the sky. Loud noisy vehicles for transportation, roads that went everywhere. Giant cities with lines of people, starving for food and jobs.

And the Great Plains, once filled with grass and Buffalo as far as the eye could see, nothing more than a giant windswept sea of dust, that even Aster struggled to get anything to sprout roots. Jack had mentioned the storms that had been sweeping away the topsoil for the past several years, but it had still been a shock to see it.

Tonnes of airborne dirt had fallen on the east coast of North America, darkening the skies and blanketing the cities, the lack of light causing fear that had given Pitch just enough of a boost to cause some damage when he attacked before slinking back into the shadows once more.

‘The Great Depression’ they called it.

It had been along time since Aster doubted himself, if he was making enough of an impact. His holiday and Springtime were both past.

He was Hope. Endurance in the hard times, belief that things would get better.

That didn’t mean he could bring rain to the drought starved land. Jack had been trying, coming down to estivate looking worn out and exhausted but there was only so much a single weather spirit without believers could do. Jack had pushing himself to the limit, attempting to buffer the worst of it from the children he was so fond of, and create little storms that barely amounted to a sprinkling to the parched land.

Aster knew this pattern. Things got bad, and then they got better. Lessons would be learned, remembered for a time, and then forgotten again.

They just had to hold on. In the Spring, he’d see what he could do to make things grow, to hold down the dirt, and keep it from flying away.

He walked back to his bedroom, spotting Jack curled up on the nest, making a soft whooshing noise as he exhaled, resting easily in the safety of the Burrow. It warmed Aster’s heart a bit, knowing that there was someone here, someone that he could return to, even if Jack was unaware of it.

He climbed into the nest, curling up close to Jack to better hear him breathe. Aster smiled quietly to himself, remembering Jack’s exuberant greetings, every time Aster met him on the surface.

On the other hand, it was completely possible that Jack understood that sentiment entirely.

Aster yawned and settled down for a long nap. They both needed to gather their strength to do what they could to help.

**9th April 1939 +**

“Oh! Christmas this year was hysterical!” Jack cackled as he pulled mugs down from the shelf, filling one from the pitcher and quickly gulping down half of it before gasping for air. He grinned, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand. “Couple of Chinese Shen-Long dragons and a Thunderbird got into a posturing tiff, causing a thick fog to roll in across most of the Northern Hemisphere. So Ol’ Saint Nick cast a spell on one of his reindeer, making his nose glow red so he could see enough to deliver presents!”

Aster felt the hair along the back of his spine stand up. “You know him?” He asked, turning to lift the lid off the stew he’d left simmering all day and checking on it. Perfect.

“Who? Santa Claus?” Jack shrugged out of the corner of Aster’s eye, then reached up to grab the bowls and pass them to Aster. Aster took them, ladling out the thick stew. “Nah. I know of him, One of the ‘Big Four’, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and the Easter Bunny. Guardians of Childhood, Protectors of the Young, Defenders of the Innocent, yadda yadda yadda.”

“Yadda yadda yadda?” Aster echoed with amusement. He didn’t think he’d ever heard the Guardians referred to as ‘Yadda yadda yadda’ before.

Jack snorted. “They don’t have the time to deal with minor nuisances like myself.” He said in a self deprecating tone.

“Oi.” Aster bumped Jack’s shoulder with an elbow. “Yer not a nuisance.”

“Right.” Jack’s tone was just shy of mocking. “And you’re the Easter Bunny.”

Had Aster told Jack that? He couldn’t remember. It wasn’t exactly hard to deduce. Appeared only in the Spring time, chocolate, fondness for eggs, 6’1” talking rabbit….

“Relax.” Jack nudged him back, carrying the pitcher of now cold water back to the table. “You’re a hare. I know an old fertility symbol when I see one.”

“Thanks.” Aster said dryly, not sure if he’d just been insulted or not. “But still, Jack. Need ya ta promise me something.”

Jack paused, blue eyes staring at him somewhat warily, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Aster sighed, setting the bowls down. “Stay away from North.” He said heavily, sitting down in his chair.

“North?” Jack’s eyebrows rose.

“Nicholas St. North.” Aster pointed upwards, towards the Pole. “Santa Claus. The other Guardians too, if you can help it.”

“But…” Jack’s face twisted in confusion. “ _Why_? The Guardians are good guys, right?” He asked plaintively.

“Because they are the Guardians.” Aster sighed wearily. “They protect children from Pitch.” And for that, they faced his wrath over and over again.

Jack made a low hissing sound. “The Boogeyman.” He whispered, as if afraid saying the name would summon Pitch Black himself.

Aster wondered if this meant that Jack had met the villain before. He hoped not. Jack had said that he’d never met another spirit other than Old Hills before meeting Aster, and Jack had a tendency to tell him what was happening on the surface when they met in the Spring. Aster was better informed on what was happening in the world than he ever had been before.

Especially Burgess, the little town that had sprouted around the lake Jack first woke up in.

“Pitch targets the Guardians, and those around him. If he thinks you’re part of their circle, that’ll make you a target too.” Aster said sincerely. “And I don’t wanna see ya swept up in that fight.”

Aster’s tunnels spread across North America now, only minor tweaks required here and there, he didn’t require Jack’s assistance on the Equinox anymore. They met briefly then, to arrange for Aster to pick up Jack after he finished his duties on Easter, and always in daylight, when Pitch was in hiding.

It was as safe for Jack to associate with Aster as he could make it. Especially with Pitch’s attacks getting increasingly desperate. The villain was a shade of what he had been centuries ago, but a dying animal was often more dangerous than a healthy one.

They had less to lose.

Jack swallowed and nodded, his expression falling as he grasped what Aster was saying. “Promise.” He said quietly, his expression and posture subdued.

“Ta.” Aster murmured, rubbing at his heart, feeling both relieved and incredibly selfish, villainously so. The other Guardians would probably _adore_ Jack. Tooth would be a flutter over his white teeth, Sandy liked pretty much everybody, and North had a similar sense of mischief, they’d probably get along like a house on fire. The elves wouldn’t know what hit them.

And Jack… Jack would probably thrive under their attention, having someone other than Aster to interact with. He couldn’t help but to think that he’d crushed some of Jack’s hope for future companionship with his promise.

But when push came to shove, Aster would rather see Jack feeling lonely, than see his life snuffed out at the hands of Pitch Black.

No matter how horrible it made Aster.

**1 April 1945 +**

“Aster!” Jack pounced on Aster’s back, arms and legs wrapping around him.

“How ya goin' there, Frostbite?” Aster asked, spinning on one foot as he adjusted to Jack’s slight weight. There was another war going on, a Second World War, making the previous ‘Great War’ seem not so great. And this time there had been no Christmas Truces to lighten spirits.

He’d been a little worried about Jack, but he seemed to be handling it better than previous wars. No less sad for it, but a little less personally.

“Got a fun one for you!” Jack crowed.

“Oooh?” Aster drawled, twisting around, trying to shift the trouble maker, who giggled and held on.

“Remember about 30 years or so, when the Auroras were visible in Florida?” Jack laughed, wiggling to dodge Aster’s hands. “And we got lost on the way back to the Warren?”

“I took a wrong turn!” Aster protested. “Once! And ended up in Brooklyn!”

“Yup. And someone saw you~” Jack sang in Aster’s ear.

“What?” Aster straightened, standing to his full height. “How do you know?” He demanded. He was damn good at not being seen, if he did say so himself.

Jack laughed, sliding off of Aster’s back. “Bugs Bunny.” He chirped, bouncing just out of arm’s reach to perch on top of his staff like a bird.

“Bugs who?” Aster growled, crossing his arms across his chest.

“He’s a cartoon character, they play his shorts between movies.” Jack grinned. “A big grey rabbit with a white belly.”

Aster glanced down at himself, then back up at Jack. Large, grey rabbit with a white belly. “So?” He demanded. It didn’t mean anything. 

“So in ‘Herr meets Hare’, one of the newest propaganda cartoons, which the Americans are showing to the German PoWs in camps, he’s got a new catchphrase.” Jack explained, mischief levels drooping slightly at the mention of the Prisoners of War. He cleared his throat, adopting a Brooklyn accent. “ _‘Should have made a left toin at Albukoykee’_."

Aster stared at Jack for a moment, then his palm met his face with a loud smack.

A little kid, peering through a window had witnessed his confusion, grown up, become an animator, and remembered it decades later to turn it into a joke in a cartoon.

“You were seen.” Jack summarized.

Aster nodded. “I was seen.”

Well, hopefully it at least made people laugh…

**25th March 1951 +**

“I. **Hate.** Trolls.” Jack proclaimed, waving his half eaten roll in the air for emphasis.

“Ooh?” Aster drawled, not having expected that answer when he asked how the past winter had been.

Jack nodded, viciously ripping a chunk out of the bread. He grabbed his water and took a huge gulp of it before resuming talking.

“The _Fjell-Trollet_ , Mountain Trolls in the Alps decided that it was time to migrate. Or have a territory dispute, I don’t know, I can’t speak Troll.” Jack paused, staring at Aster. “Do you speak Troll?”

“Don’t reckon I do.” Aster hid a grin. “Don’t meet a lot of them.”

“Good.” Jack declared, shoving a huge bite of stew in his mouth. “So get this. They’re up in the Swiss Alps, fighting with each other in the snow. Mountain Trolls are HUGE and they start causing avalanches.”

Aster grimaced.

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “Over 600 avalanches in less than _three months_. Entire villages, forests, boom! Swept away and gone. Over 250 people died, and one town lost most of their cattle, around 500 head. The Barbegazi had their hands full, but even they couldn’t do much.”

“Barbegazi?” Aster asked, silently reeling over the death toll.

“Kind of like dwarves. Only with really big feet that they use like skis, covered in white fur and a long white beard.” Jack said, pantomiming a beard that went past his knees. “Name means ‘Frozen Beard’. They’re a little shy, but okay. They’ll help people sometimes, find lost sheep or dig people out of the snow if they’re caught.”

“They enjoy riding on the tops of avalanches on their feet for fun. And when they do, the Barbegazi make these low whistling sounds to communicate danger. Me and the wind carried the sound as far and as loud as we could, but we couldn’t keep up with it all. No sooner had one stopped when another started.”

“Crikey.” Aster gulped. “What finally stopped it?”

Jack shrugged. “Dunno. Either the Trolls finally settled down, or the Barbegazi dropped some avalanches on them. Either way, it was a crazy winter.”

**14th April 1968 +**

The bitter cold jolted Aster right down to his bones as he opened up the tunnels to Europe. He almost wanted to dive back down into the tunnels to get out of the howling wind that cut through his fur as if it didn’t exist.

Aster stared around in confusion and horror as the eggs he was escorting promptly got lost in the deep soft snow, their light weight falling into the depths of the cold white powder. There was no way for them to properly hide for the children to find.

There was no way that children were going to be out looking for eggs in this weather.

He hadn’t had to deal with a situation like this in centuries, Jack usually kept Easter morning clear-

“ _JACK!_ ” Aster shouted, panic spiking through him. He held a hand out, catching bits of snow on his paw pads.

There were two elemental signatures in it. One he didn’t recognise that radiated a chilling hunger. And Jack Frost.

Jack was in trouble. Something was trying to _eat_ him-

Aster was suddenly pushed to the side, sending him face-first into the snow, the tunnel closing behind him. He floundered for a moment, rolling over to find Jack standing with his back to Aster, crooked staff held defensively in front of him.

Then what Aster had thought was snow moved, a giant white serpent head. It was a Wyrm, a close cousin to a Dragon, minus the wings or other limbs. The thing was huge, the head easily the size of Aster’s torso, crowned with horns the size of daggers, with fangs nearly as long. He couldn’t tell how long it was, the length of the body hidden in the snow.

And it was definitely hungry.

“Aster! Run!” Jack shouted, swinging his staff and charging at the Wyrm, who opened its jaws, as if to swallow Jack whole. Aster shouted in alarm as Jack nimbly twisted, flipping up into the air and waving his staff, a stream of ice shooting at the Wyrm’s head. The Wyrm bobbed and weaved, dodging Jack’s attack. “Run!” Jack repeated.

Aster dodged to his feet, hands groping for boomerangs, although he was uncertain as to if they could pierce the Wyrm’s scales. The ice Jack shot from his staff was sharp enough to slice branches from the trees, but seemed to do little against the Wyrm’s tough hide. Enough to be a distraction, possibly.

Although Jack seemed to have it well in hand, Aster noted with appreciation. The young spirit was a skilled fighter. Jack encapsulated the Wyrm’s body in ice, the glimmering frozen frost wrapping around nearby trees, like some sort of cold cocoon. The Wyrm roared, twisting to break the ice and charge once more.

And then Jack hit it in the face with a snowball, drawing the Wyrm’s attention away from its predicament and back towards him. “That all you got?!” Jack shouted, his body half hidden from Aster’s view behind a couple of trees, holding his staff horizontally.

“JACK!” Aster screamed as the Wyrm reared back, then launched itself at Jack, mouth open wide. Jack released his staff and flailed, the Wyrm wide open mouth catching the staff-

-And then didn’t stop, the staff somehow severing the top of the head clean off the lower jaw and the rest of the body.

“Jack!” Aster ran towards him.

“Aster?” Jack’s voice wobbled slightly as he panted for breath. Aster spotted him, pulling the staff free from the branches and grimacing at the blood that covered it. Jack leaned heavily against the staff, looking up at Aster with a confused expression. “You okay?”

“Apples.” Aster assured him, stepping next to Jack as he put his boomerangs away. Poor lad seemed to be liberally splattered with blood, positively reeking with the metallic scent of it. “How’d ya do that?”

“Hoar frost.” Jack gave him a small, exhausted grin, motioning to his staff. Aster peered at it, realising there was a razor sharp line of ice along the side, sticking up about an inch high, turning the blunt instrument into a lethal cutting edge. “I-”

Aster dove to grab him as Jack suddenly wobbled and pitched forward, body going lax. “Jack?!” He caught the kid, wrapping his arms around the smaller body.

There was bright red blood all over Jack’s white shirt, and Aster was horrified to realise that a lot of the blood Jack was wearing wasn't the serpent's, but his own.

“Sorry.” Jack murmured, weakly trying to shove him away. “Snow should be melting… Kids….”

It was Easter. Kids would out as soon as the snow melted to find eggs, especially now that Jack had taken care of the predator.

For a brief moment, Aster was torn between Jack and his holiday.

Then he tapped the ground with his foot, opening a tunnel. He summoned his large Sentinel Eggs, directing them to clear walkways in the snow for the smaller eggs to follow.

Usually he tried to hide a couple of eggs around houses for the sharp-eyed sprogs, but this year they’d have to make do with what was hidden in the parks.

He dove back down into the tunnels, directing the next wave of googies up and out, with the Sentinel Eggs leading the way to break the snow. It was awkward to run with frozen limbs while carrying Jack, but he went as fast as he could, not stopping until they were back in the safety and warmth of the Warren.

Aster lay Jack down in the green grass, grabbing a knife out of his bandoleer and slicing off Jack’s jacket and coat off. The coat was old now, falling apart at the seams, but Jack still seemed to love it, and he lamented the loss.

Jack’s torso was a mass of smeared red blood, two long dark cuts on his front, and a mass of smaller ones. Aster hissed, realising that it was the result of a near-miss of the Wyrm’s teeth. The Wyrm’s teeth were a lot like the serpents they resembled, long, sharp, and bent backwards like hooks, to keep the prey from escaping once caught. The cuts were jagged from where the flesh had caught and torn.

Aster tapped the ground, yarrow springing up and he pulled off the leaves, packing the wounds with the plant to stanch the blood, and applying pressure. Jack groaned, his face twisting up with pain as Aster did so, hands raising as if to push him away, although they lacked the strength to do so.

“Jack, I need ya here with me for a moment.” Aster hissed urgently, fingers never stopping his work. “The Wyrm, Jack. Was the Wyrm venomous?” Some of them could be highly toxic.

“As… ter?” Jack whimpered, eyes opening just enough to look at him. “No…” He shook his head. “Constrict… er…”

Wrapped up its prey in its coils and squeezed the life out of it before eating it. Not venomous.

“That’s good, Jackie.” Aster breathed a sigh of relief. “You just hold on now.”

“Wanna sleep.” Jack mumbled.

“You catch yerself a kip then.” Aster assured him. It was the time of year that Jack got drowsy and started falling asleep anyway. “I’ve gotcha, you’re safe.”

“Ta.” Jack murmured, eyes drifting shut. His breath almost automatically slowed to a near stop, sending Aster into a momentary panic until he picked up the faint sound of an inhale.

Aster finished packing the wounds, breathing a sigh of relief when he realised that the cuts were slowing their bleeding, starting to scab over.

He paused, poking the hardening blood and realised that it wasn’t so much congealing as freezing solid. Winter elemental. Right. Well, as long as it worked, Aster wasn’t going to complain.

Once asleep, Jack never woke up until the Autumn equinox. Aster wouldn’t know if Jack was actually sleeping or in coma until he woke. Aster hoped it was a healing, restful sleep and Jack would wake in the Autumn, having slept through the worst of the healing.

Aster gave a quiet sigh, growing vines around Jack like a cocoon, applying pressure to the wounds and keeping the packing in. Aster put his hand on the vines, using them to trickling his energy into the wounds, gently encouraging the growth of new cells, speeding up the healing.

He paused, then ran a hand through Jack’s chilly hair, leaving bloody streaks behind. That was all he could do for the moment. It should be safe for Jack to rest here while Aster attended to the remains of his holiday, and then he’d clean the blood off.

He checked the tunnel he’d found Jack first, finding Jack’s prediction about the snow melting to be correct. The body of the Wyrm was still there, the top of the skull separate from the rest of the body.

The melting snow had destroyed most of the evidence of the fight, but from how far it was spread out, Aster was able to get enough of the story to understand that Jack had been fighting the Ice Wyrm for at least a couple of days. Jack had been keeping it in the wilderness, away from populated areas and children.

Unfortunately, traces of where the Wyrm had come from had been erased, so it was impossible to tell if there were more of them.

The only sign of blood however, was where Aster’s tunnel had appeared, when Jack had pushed Aster out of the way.

Jack had put himself between the Wyrm's attack and Aster, probably saving Aster’s life. Aster growled to himself, punching the ground in frustration. And now Jack was bleeding on the grass of the Warren.

This was why Aster didn’t want to make acquaintances.

Aster glared at the corpse of the Wyrm, then pulled a twist of paper out of his bandolier, opening it up and blowing the seeds contained within over the white corpse.

The seeds floated for a second, then seemed to migrate towards the body, where they wiggled in and took root, growing quickly with very little urging from Aster, until the entire body was covered up by dark green foliage.

Confident that the Wyrm wasn’t coming back from that, Aster went back into the tunnels, herding the last groups of eggs up to the surface.

Everything was food for plants, which in turn, were eaten as food. From Death came New Life. And thus the cycles continued.

**26 Sept 1968 +**

Aster nearly hit the ceiling of the Burrow when he heard the sound of a footstep behind him. He turned around, finding Jack leaning against the corner of the hallway and kitchen, yawning widely, holding his staff in one hand, and rubbing his eyes with the other. “Jackie!”

“Hey.” Jack said, then yawned again, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling. The motion drew attention to the Jack’s pale skin and lean muscle of his torso, and the silver scars that still marked his side.

… Regardless of species, that was not the body of a child, but the strong body of a young man not quite yet in their prime. He still seemed too skinny to Aster, but not as unhealthily as he once had.

Jack made a satisfied sound as various joints popped, then staggered the few steps forward to plop down in the kitchen chair he usually sat in, looking half-dozing again, staff propped against his shoulder. His head snapped up and he rubbed his face. “How long was I out?” He asked, voice deep and rasping.

“About normal.” Aster said, pouring him a glass of water and putting it in front of Jack. “Equinox was a couple days past.”

“Yay.” Jack tiredly cheered, grabbing the glass and taking a careful sip. Belatedly, Aster realised that had he been less worried, that would have been the perfect set up pull the kid’s chain, make him think he’d slept until the New Year or something.

Ah, well. Next year.

Jack took a couple more careful sips, then set the glass down. “Wyrm’s dead?” He asked. Jack’s voice was slightly lower, a deeper timber. Not unpleasant, just a little different. Older.

“Ya cut the top of the head clean off.” Aster nodded, fetching a bowl and spoon. “I used it for fertilizer, hope you don’t mind. It ain’t coming back.”

Jack nodded. “You okay?” He asked, concerned.

“Not a scratch on me.” Aster assured him with a small smile, lifting the lid on the rice and filling the bowl halfway. “Ta for that.”

“Good.” Jack seemed to deflate a little, gave him a small sheepish smile. “I couldn’t remember. I remember you suddenly appearing, then things get a little hazy.”

“No worries.” Aster assured him, giving the curry a stir. It was thick with carrots, cauliflower, chickpeas, onions, and spinach, that had been simmering in the coconut milk base, mixed with garlic and ginger. It had a bit of a bite to it, which hopefully Jack didn’t mind. He filled the rest of the bowl up with the rich stew.

When he turned back, he found Jack peering down at the silver scars in his side, prodding the healed flesh. The injury was colder to the touch than the rest of Jack’s skin, something that Aster hoped was normal for him. “Hey, Aster?” Jack looked up at him, a confused look on his face. “Didja do something? I’m not arguing if you did, it usually takes me longer to heal than this, even after sleeping through the summer.”

“Might’ve nudged it along a bit.” Aster shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal, setting the bowl down in front of Jack. “Spring’s about New Life and all that.”

He’d been paranoid and twitchy whenever he was out of sight from Jack, old nightmares returning, and he might have pushed the healing a bit more than he usually would. He had an empty Warren that had been built for an entire civilisation that wasn’t around any longer. He wasn’t going to lose the only person willing to put up with him on a yearly basis, not if he could help it.

It meant that he’d done a lot of work in the big cavern, catching up on little maintenance things he’d always meant to do and kept putting off. At least until Jack healed up and showed signs of starting to stir, when he’d finally felt safe picking the lad up and moving him back to the more familiar surroundings of the Burrow.

Even then, he’d done a lot of checking up on Jack, staying close to the Burrow, unable to shake the niggling worry in the back of his head that Jack wouldn’t wake up again.

“Thank you.” Jack smiled, looking relieved at the explanation. Aster gave him a half smile back as he put the food in front of Jack, motioning for him to eat. Jack nodded, doing so slowly.

He might have accidently triggered a growth spirt in Jack as well, in the process of healing him. Now that he was looking, Aster was pretty sure that Jack’s shoulders hadn’t been quite that wide, or his jaw that sharp when they first met. Nor his trousers quite that tight.

Course, back then, Jack hadn’t wandered around shirtless either.

It was possible that Jack had been slowly growing since they met, and Aster just hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t like humans were terribly easy for him to pick up the subtleties with. The body language was strange, no tails or ears to read, and posture didn’t always mean what he thought it should mean.

Either way, it left Aster feeling slightly uneasy. Kids were supposed to grow up and leave the nest, but at the same time, he’d grown accustomed to having Jack around.

“Gotcha somethin’.” Aster remembered. “Hold on a tic.”

Jack made a curious noise, one cheek bulging out like a chipmunk’s, the spoon hovering part way to his mouth.

… And this was the kid Aster was worried about growing up too fast. Aster huffed in amusement and waved a hand, motioning for Jack to carry on and Jack continued shoving the curry in his mouth like breathing was optional.

Aster waited until his back was to Jack before letting his smile escape. It wouldn’t do to encourage bad manners after all. He found the blue jumper on the back of the chair in the library, where he’d left it. He picked it up, sparing a brief thought that he hoped Jack liked it before walking back to the kitchen.

Jack was staring distondantly into his mostly empty bowl, his shoulders tense. “... Frostbite?” Aster inquired softly, wondering what caused the change in mood. He shifted to the side, so he could see Jack better.

Jack’s eye were huge and haunted. “I’ve never killed anyone before.” Jack said quietly, slowly looking up at Aster with horror.

Aster stared back, his mind going blank. It had been ages since his first kill, what should he say? What should he do? Everyone reacted differently…

“Is it safe for you to be around me?!” Jack asked, looking at his staff, and then dropping it on the floor, leaning back so fast he almost fell out of the chair. “The kids, are they, I’m not going to-”

“Jack!” Aster snapped, putting a hand on the kid... Jack’s pale shoulder. “Breathe.”

“But-” Jack protested, his words coming quickly. “Wendigo, Winter Spirits… _Eat people_. They get stronger after they kill, I could-”

“You’re not a Wendigo.” Aster shook his head. “Just stop fer a moment, okay? Whatever you’re thinkin’, just stop. You’re alright.”

Jack made a sound in the back of his throat like a whimper. Aster fought the urge to pick him up and hug him like a kit, shield him, but this wasn’t something he could protect Jack from. He leaned down, pressing his forehead to Jack’s. “Breathe, Jackie.” He whispered, feeling Jack trembling minutely against him.

He got a shaky gusty sigh in return, Jack deflating against him, trusting him. “Good lad.” Aster whispered. “Tell me how you’re feelin’.”

“Other than scared?” Jack offered with shy humour. “Hungry. Little sleepy. Bit warm, but it’s always warm in the kitchen.” 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Aster fought the urge to smile. He wasn’t really. The kitchen never got hot enough to get uncomfortable for Jack as long as he stayed away from the stove, Aster had checked on that. “Let’s focus on hungry for a sec. Hungry for what?”

“... Stew?” Jack ventured. “Or curry. What ever this is. It’s good.”

“It missin’ anything?” Aster asked.

Jack was silent for a moment, and Aster could practically hear him thinking. “A little less ginger wouldn’t go amiss?”

Aster laughed, affectionately bumping their heads together before straightening up. “You’re apples.” He assured him, squeezing Jack’s shoulder and keeping it there.

“You’re sure?” Jack rubbed his forehead, eyebrows crinkling.

“Yup.” Aster nodded, patting Jack’s head, then taking his bowl and going to refill it, draping the jumper over the back of his chair on the way. “M’not saying you haven’t changed a bit, but you’re not a danger ta anyone unless ya wanna be.”

He got a wary look, Jack tilting his head to the side as he studied Aster’s face. Aster flashed him a grin, amused by the suspicion before he let it fade to a serious look. “Ya didn’t wanna kill the Wyrm, did you?” He asked, spooning rice into the bowl

Jack shook his head. “No.”

“Didn’t think so.” Aster smiled to himself as he poured the curry in on top, making sure there was more veg than sauce. “From what tracks I could find, looked like ya’d been at it fer a while, keepin’ it away from the towns. You changed your strategy when I showed up.”

He walked over and set the bowl down in front of Jack. “When ya took a hit meant for me, savin’ my life.” Aster added quietly.

Jack stared up at him with wide eyes, adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. “I couldn’t-” He stammered, voice thick.

“I know.” Aster ran a hand over Jack’s head, silver hair sliding through his fingers. “Eat.”

Jack nodded, surreptitiously wiping his eyes with the back of his hand before resuming eating. Aster nodded, grabbing the pitcher of water and his mug to drink out of, giving Jack a moment to compose himself, before going to sit down at the table, leaning his forearms on the table.

“Killin’ should never be easy.” Aster said quietly, staring into the depths of his mug. “I sicked up the first time I did.”

Jack made a startled sound in the back of his throat and Aster glanced up to find Jack gawking at him, eyes wide in surprise.

“Yeah.” Aster bobbed his head. “Just cause I look like a harmless old bunny doesn’t mean I am. And it changes ya. Not just in here-” He tapped his chest, where his heart was. “But cause we’re Spirits, it alters us, the taking of lives.”

There was more to it than that, some Spirits were born predators, they needed to kill to eat to survive. But it was when it went outside of their nature, past survival, that things started to change, to warp.

Jack stared at him, questions in his eyes. “I used ta be brown.” Aster ran a hand down the white fur that ran down his chest and belly. “Cream and tan. I wear old man colours now.” And stripes. He didn’t used to have stripes, the black stripes that warned of a dangerous predator.

Not that anyone noticed.

“But ya didn’t do it for fun, or cause you were bored.” Aster said quietly. “You did it to protect, Jack. Protect me. Just like when ya fight the storms ta protect the kids. That’s who you are, that’s what you do. That’s why I’m not worried about ya turnin’ into some sort o’crazed man eating monster.”

That was something that Aster did not take lightly. He wasn’t just the Guardian of Hope, he was the Avatar of Spring. If he died, new life stopped being born, everything went with him. It was one of the reasons he tended not leave the Warren, he was more vulnerable up there.

One of the reasons he didn’t like to be social, spirits had tried to get close to him before, to use his abilities to their advantage.

And Jack didn’t know any of that. Jack considered Aster his friend, and that was enough for Jack to put his life on the line for Aster.

In retrospect, Aster wished he hadn’t been so busy ogling Jack’s fighting and acrobatics to have done the killing blow himself, to keep this anguish from Jack.

Jack slowly nodded. “... I don’t want to eat people.” He said quietly, making Aster bite back a chuckle.

“Doubt they’d taste good.” Aster smirked, coaxing a tentative smile out of Jack.

“Yeah.” Jack agreed with a small bob of his head, lips curving just a bit. Aster felt something warm in his chest as the two of them lapsed into companionable silence. Jack resumed eating, still inhaling food, but not with quite as much gusto as he had previously.

Between healing and aging a bit, it wasn’t any surprise he was hungry. Even if he had a belief base to support him like the Guardians did, he’d still probably be starving. That was still a lot of energy he’d used.

“Oh.” He remembered why he’d left the room in the first place. “Got somethin’ fer ya, apology fer destroying yer shirts.” Aster pulled the blue jumper from the back of the chair and tossed it at Jack.

“Oh!” Jack flailed to catch it and keep it out of the food in front of him. “Thank you!” He exclaimed, quickly pulling it on over his head. The material almost immediately frosted over, forming intricate patterns around the neck and cuffs that made Aster’s fingers itch to paint.

The jumper had a hood on the back, and a large pocket in the front Aster supposed was for warming his hands. He’d gotten it to fit Jack’s broad shoulders, but it had seemed too baggy for Jack’s lithe frame, so Aster had done some tailoring. He’d taking in some of the strange machine knit fabric on the sides to make it more form fitting for when Jack was doing his mid-air acrobatics.

The look on North’s face when Aster had shown up and requested clothing was one Aster didn’t think he was going to forget anytime soon. Especially since Aster refused to explain why he needed a human garment too small for him to fit into, resulting in North’s theories became more and more outrageous.

-Aster was never, ever telling North why he needed the jumper.

Jack practically glowed with excitement as he touched the new clothing, adjusting the fit and feel of it. “It’s perfect!” He beamed at Aster.

“Glad you like it.” Aster smiled back. “Oh! Before I forget, strange question fer ya, feel free ta say no. Next year, mind if I take ya out to the gardens with me while you’re sleepin’?”

Jack gave him a long, considering look. “Anyone else, I’d say that meant something else.” He said, one corner of his lips briefly curling up into a muted leer before sliding into a serious look. “-But I think that means I gave you a real scare, huh?”

“Yeah.” Aster said heavily. To say the least. “I wasn’t sure how ya where healing, if the cold was good or not-”

“Hey.” Jack said, holding a hand up. “It’s okay. I trust you. You move me from the library to the bedroom every year, and it’s never been a concern.”

Which was true, Aster never thought about it. There was something comforting about their tradition of Jack falling asleep while reading and Aster moving him to the nest. He was pretty sure that Jack was even finishing some of the books before falling asleep.

Jack’s look turned mischievous. “-Course, if I find out you drop me in a mud puddle or something like that, all bets are off.”

“Deal.” Aster agreed with a sigh of relief. “Ta. I felt better with you in eyesight, and-” He shrugged. “Call me paranoid.”

“Paranoid.” Jack said fondly.

Aster snorted. “Thanks.”

**22nd April 1973 +**

“Aster!” Jack cheered, landing in front of Aster, then bounced on his toes with a broad mischievous grin, putting his hands behind his back.

“Heya, Snowflake.” Aster smiled, attempting to hide his confusion at the lack of the usual hug. Jack had been growing, perhaps he had reached an age when physical affection was considered smothering-?

He felt a small pang at that. He’d gotten used to Jack’s hugs. “How ya goin’?” He asked instead.

“Doing alright.” Jack said, rocking back on his heels with a mischievous grin.. “Got a bit of trivia for you.” 

“Ooh?” Aster drawled, quirking an eyebrow up as Jack twirled his staff, something he did when he was up to something. “What’s that?”

“The hoodie you gave me?” Jack planted the staff on the ground and leaned on it with a smug grin. “Guess what they call it in Saskatchewan?”

Aster shrugged. “Dunno. A hoodie?”

“Nope.” Jack leaped, wrapping his arms around Aster’s neck like he usually did. It still was a minor surprise, to have Jack’s head brush Aster’s cheek instead of fitting under his chin. Aster chuckled, hugging him back, pleased that Jack hadn’t outgrown his enthusiastic affection.

Jack tilted his head up so he could speak almost directly in Aster’s ear, the grin evident in his voice. “-They’re called ‘Bunny Hugs’.”

It took a moment for it to sink in, then he hugged Jack as tightly, the two of them muffling their giggles against each other

**19 April 1981 +**

“Hekla says ‘ _Halló_ ’.” Jack announced, as Aster opened the tunnel to the Burrow.

“The Volcano spirit?” Aster grinned. He normally tried to avoid dealing with volcanos and the like, the super one under what they now called ‘Yosemite’ in particular. They were so grumbly. But Hekla was pretty decent. She’d gotten named back in the early 1100s as ‘The Gateway to Hell’, and had fun with it, constantly changing shape and size.

“Yeah, in Iceland. She was erupting about 10 days ago, adding landmass to the island.” Jack nodded. “She said she could smell the ‘Avatar of Spring’ on me, I figured she meant you.”

“Yup.” Aster agreed, jumping down into the tunnel. Made sense that Jack smelled a bit like Aster, considering that he lived with Aster for about six months of the year. He was pretty sure that some of his fur was permanently woven into the clothing Jack wore.

Jack let out a cheer as he followed, nudging Aster’s shoulder as he attempted to pass him. “Avatar of Spring, huh?” Jack said, his voice slightly taunting. “Fancy title.” There’d been less cuddling, more wrestling in the past decade, as if Jack was exploring his newfound strength.

Aster didn't mind, even if he was a little bit too fond of having Jack pinned under him. It never got to the point of anger or pain, or Aster would have protested, but Jack always kept it to the level of playful tussling.

Aster nudged Jack back, sending the winter sprite spiralling through the tunnel. “So I don’t like ta use all me fancy titles.” He retorted back.

“Oh-ho?” Jack chortled. “Like King Bun-Bun of the Fluffy Butt?”

“Hey! Me butt’s not fluffy!” Aster barked.

From behind him, he could hear Jack laughing. “It really is.” Jack said, playfully sincere.

“Oi! Stop starin’ at me arse!”

“Stop taking up the whole tunnel!”

“Stop bein’ so slow!”

“Stop… Oh.” Jack trailed off as the tunnel opened up into the kitchen, the two of them nearly colliding with the table. “Stop running into things?” He tried.

“Hah.” Aster snorted, walking over to the pitcher of water, pouring himself a mug, and draining it. “Hekla say anythin’ else?” He asked, pouring a second mug.

“Apologised about the Ice Wyrm, actually.” Jack said, waiting for Aster to finish before pouring his own cup. “It escaped from Jötunheimr, it shouldn’t have been running free like that, the Vanir or Æsir should have stopped it from crossing over.”

Aster nodded, making a note to have words the next time he ran into any of the Norse. “Ya okay with that?”

Jack thought about it, then nodded. “Means that even if I hadn’t stopped it, someone eventually would have.” He said contemplatively, rolling the mug between his hands.

Ever since he killed the Ice Wyrm, Jack had been having bad dreams. Not enough to wake him up, but the whimpering and whispered comments were enough to make Aster glad that he kept Jack nearby, where he could talk to Jack and coax him back to more pleasant dreams.

Jack feared becoming like Great Winter, cold and deadly, instead of bringing joy to kids during the darkest parts of the year. Aster could have rationally explained to Jack that his fear was ungrounded, but he knew how those irrational thoughts tended to stick. He’d figure it out.

“That’s…” Aster paused, staring at Jack. “... Surprisingly mature, actually. You sure yer feelin’ alright?”

Jack shot him an annoyed look that made Aster grin. He ruffled Jack’s hair, feeling unaccountably proud of him. “You’re alright, Jackie.” He said cheerfully. “Don’t let anyone else tell ya otherwise.”

Jack ducked his head, lips pressing together to hide a smile. “Thanks.”

Aster nodded back, changing the subject. “Hungry?”

He got a grateful look in return. “Starved.” Jack admitted, and they turned their attentions to food instead.

**30th March 1986 +**

“Do you think it’s cold in outer space?” Jack asked, as he nibbled on a nectarine as Aster put the finishing touches on their meal

Aster thought about it. “Reckon so.” He mused. “Dunno, never put much thought into it. Like ta keep my feet on the ground.” 

Jack laughed. “More like _under_ ground.” He quipped, not unkindly, making Aster smile. Too right. 

“What brought this up?” Aster inquired. “Thinkin’ of going ta visit the Man in the Moon?”

Jack barked with laughter. “Nah, he never answers back.” He waved it off. Aster might have mistaken it for lighthearted, if he was less familiar with Jack. The faint bitterness made his eyebrow raise. 

Jack waved it off and Aster nodded, signalling he wouldn’t press. That was one of the things he appreciated with Jack, they both either volunteered information, or they didn’t. Jack would tell him, or he wouldn’t, either way Aster didn’t press, and Jack afforded him the same courtesy. 

“Did you know that they have giant shuttles that fly into space?” Jack said, nearly mumbling into the nectarine.

“Think I might have heard something about that.” Aster smiled to himself. Jack had rambled about the first human landing on the moon a couple of years after ‘68, the kids pretending to be spacemen. 

“Yeah, well, it blew up.” Jack muttered. “Turns out space shuttles can get too cold, and _~boom~_.” 

Aster’s ears twitched. “Jack-?” He ventured, getting a bad feeling as to where this story was going. 

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair, gripping the back of his neck. “It was cold enough for me to visit Florida in January.” 

“You were there.” Aster guessed. 

“In the sky, watching the launch when it exploded.” Jack nodded. “The crew cabin flew right through me. It was intact, the crew inside was alive and screaming.”

“Aw shyte, Jack.” Aster set the knife down and held an arm out towards Jack. That had been months ago. Jack tensed for a moment, then tilted to lean against Aster, pressing his face against Aster’s shoulder.

It was never pleasant, having humans pass through your body like you weren't quite there. It always felt a little like they were ripping something from his body when it happened.

“Not your bad.” He assured Jack. Just because he was there to witness the shuttle’s launch didn’t mean that he caused the shuttle to blow up. If it was cold enough for Jack to travel there, there were other factors at work. 

“I know.” Jack sighed. “I just… They were _right there_ , and I couldn’t do anything.” 

“Can’t think o’ anybody who could have.” Aster said honestly. Well, possibly Sandy. But not during daylight. Or with people who didn’t believe in them. There were limits to how much they could affect things. 

Bloody annoying, really. 

Jack made a humming sound, giving Aster a squeeze, thankfully not with the hand holding the nectarine. “Thanks.” He said quietly. “I guess I needed to hear I didn’t screw stuff up.” 

“Think we all need ta hear that sometimes.” Aster drawled, wrapping his arm around Jack’s shoulder, holding him tight for a moment.

**12 April 1998 +**

Aster laughed as they raced through the tunnels, skidding to a halt in the kitchen, the two of them tumbling over each other as they attempted to avoid running into the kitchen table. One of these years he’d remember to move the kitchen table so they didn’t risk knocking themselves over the head with it when they came in, but this year was not that year.

“You’re looking spry.” Aster commented, ruffling Jack’s hair as Jack laughed and ducked out of range. “Had a good year?”

“Mild winter.” Jack shrugged, standing up and helping Aster to his feet. “Mostly anyway. Massive ice storm back in January in North America thanks to the Sibs. I mostly hung out at my lake.”

“Sibs?” Aster inquired, going for the pitcher of water. One of these days he’d have to see this lake of Jack’s in Burgess. Jack followed him, leaning against the sink.

“El Niño and La Niña. They’re a pair of weather phenoms that play in the Pacific.” Jack explained, waiting until Aster had poured his mug of water before pouring his own. “El Niño heats the water, La Niña cools it. But it changes the weather patterns all over when they do that. This year it was El Niño winning, so it was a warmer winter in the Northern Hemisphere, not a lot of snow.”

Jack paused as Aster drained his mug, and poured a second one. “What happens if La Niña wins?” Aster inquired.

“Flooding in the Southern Hemisphere, usually.” Jack shrugged. “... I think. I don’t get down here as often.” He added apologetically.

“No worries.” Aster assured him and Jack smiled. The Southern Hemisphere tended to have not quite as much snow as the Northern, it made sense that Jack would stay where was comfortable.

“They’re not bad kids.” Jack added, slightly defensively, and Aster did not miss the fact that Jack was holding his staff against the scars from the Ice Wyrm. “They don’t even have physical forms. I’ve only met them a couple of times, and they’ve invited me to play. They don’t mean to cause trouble, it’s just-”

“A side effect of what they are.” Aster wrapped an arm around Jack’s head and pulled him in for a side hug. He’d seen it a couple of times with Jack. Jack Frost was a good kid, a bit on the mischievous side, and sometimes things didn’t turn out the way he planned. “I getcha, Jackie. You’re alright.”

Jack gave a small sigh and leaned against him. “Thanks.” He said quietly.

“No worries.” Aster smiled. He nudged the kid. “Set the table and I’ll get tea on?”

“We’re drinking water, not _tea_.” Jack corrected, making a face and Aster laughed. If he remembered in the Autumn, he’d have to surprise the kid with a High English Tea, complete with cucumber sandwiches and little fancy cookies. Just to see Jack’s face when he woke up.

He was pretty sure he even had some old lace tablecloths around here somewhere, a gift from North or something….

**21 September 2011 +**

“I smell like flowers.” Jack commented, lifting his arm and sniffing it with a confused expression on his face. He still looked a little fuzzy from waking up, but he was conscious enough to talk.

“Sorry.” Aster hid a grin. He’d been expanding the Warren again, and Jack had been wrapped up in jasmine vines for the past couple of weeks. He’d looked so peaceful, with a couple of googies curled up next to him, that Aster had been loathed to move him until it was about time for Jack to wake up.

“Naw, it’s nice.” Jack gave him a grin. “I don’t get to see flowers all that often, they’re either dying or sprouting when I’m awake.”

“But the garden’s full of them…” Aster trailed off, belatedly realising that the only time Jack had ever been in the garden was while he was asleep. “You’ve never seen me garden.”

“Nope.” Jack shrugged, grabbing a warm orange roll from the tray where they were resting and shoving it into his face before he cooled it to frozen.

Aster grinned, realising that Jack probably thought his garden was something like up on the surface, a small family plot or something.

"I’ll show you it when you come down in the Spring." Aster promised. "Yanno, when you're awake."

"I'd like that." Jack grinned back, looking excited at the prospect.

**5th April 2012 +**

Aster felt a sense of dread as the figure Manny was projecting illuminated the crystal. No, no no no… Why couldn’t it have been the Groundhog?!

“Jack Frost.” North said, both surprised and contemplative. It did nothing to reassure Aster, who wanted to know how the bloody hell North _recognised Jack on sight_.

“NO!” The word burst out of his mouth before Aster could stop it. He scrambled to cover it up. “Jack Frost!? He doesn’t care about children! ...All he does is freeze water pipes and mess with my egg hunts. Right?” He laughed, high and fake. “He’s an irresponsible, selfish-“

“Guardian.” North finished, looking delighted.

“Jack Frost is many things, but he is **not** a Guardian!” Aster said desperately, his hands shaking in terror.

“Bunny?” Tooth said, putting a hand on Aster’s shoulder. “What’s going on? This isn’t like you.”

“I…” Aster swallowed, sinking down on his haunches. “I…”

Jack wasn’t supposed to get mixed up in this whole Guardian stuff, dammit, he was just a _kid_. Who liked to play in the snow, was fond of chocolate, and made funny faces when he slept. He was supposed to stay away from the other Guardians, and most importantly, far away from rudding Pitch Black.

“Bunny?” North echoed, his voice going soft in concern.

Aster took a deep breath, cradling his hands to his chest to hide their shaking. “Jack Frost is my friend.”

It was the first time he’d ever admitted it to himself, much less said it outloud. Jack was probably his best mate, if he was being brutally honest with himself.

North and Tooth made shocked noises that he probably should have found insulting. They didn’t know everything about his life. Very little, actually, because that was the way he preferred it. He didn’t let people close.

Except, maybe, one. One very irritatingly helpful winter sprite that was always happy to see him.

North glanced between the image that was starting to fade and Aster. “So that is why you asked for sweater in blue.” He rumbled and Aster nodded miserably.

“Jackie had a bit o’ a tussle with a Ice Wyrm back in ‘68.” Aster said lowly. “He’s been watchin’ over kids since before I met him, near two centuries ago.”

“Two _centuries_?!” Tooth gasped, Sandy letting out a silent whistle of surprise. “Bunny, why didn’t you ever introduce him to us?!”

“Because I was tryin’ ta keep him away from all this!” Aster snapped, gesturing wildly with his arm as he rose to his full height. “Pitch Black _kills_ -” He trailed off, his words sticking in his throat.

“You wish to protect him, and that is admirable, my friend.” North rumbled. “But Bunny, the choice is not yours to make. It is not ours, nor is it Man in Moon’s. The choice belongs only to Jack Frost.”

Aster groaned in response, privately acknowledging North’s words. North was right. He had to let Jack make that decision, no matter how much Aster wished it otherwise.

“Let me be the one ta get him.” Aster said quietly. “I at least owe him that. Not bein’ shoved in a sack and tossed through a snow globe.”

“I would never!” North sputtered and protested, indignantly waving his hands. It faded under the force of Sandy’s glare. “-Do that more than once at a time…” North sheepishly trailed off.

“Do you know where he is?” Tooth asked Aster, her expression gentle.

Aster snorted. Three days from now? Safe, back in the Burrow. “I got a rough guess. Gimme a couple of hours.”

Phil spoke up, his voice a rumbling mumble. “Ah, thank you for checking Globe, Phil.” North grinned. “Jack Frost is in Burgess. North Eastern US.” He announced.

Aster frowned. “... Why is Jackie on your Globe?”

“Jack Frost is top of Naughty list.” North said cheerfully. “Very Mischievous. Always with the making of snowstorms, blizzards, avalanches. Constantly causing trouble.”

“Uh-huh.” Aster drawled. Right. Jack, a trouble maker. “Pull the other one, its got bells on.”

North’s expression went blank. “Pull other what?”

“Never mind.” Aster waved it off, tapping the floor and opening a tunnel. “Back in a tic.”

Looked like he was going to finally get to see Jack’s lake.

* * *

Jack wasn’t hard to find, the only person insane enough to be taking a stroll on the telephone pole wires, silver blooms of frost appearing under his feet, coating everything he touched.

“Frostbite!” Aster called, waving a hand. Jack did a neat pirouette on the wire, expression alert, bringing the staff up defensively until he saw Aster.

“Aster?!” Jack hopped down, the wind depositing him in front of Aster. He flashed Aster a welcoming grin before glancing suspiciously around. “Everything okay?”

“Yes and no.” Aster sighed, running a hand over his ears. “Something’s come up. My friends would like ta meetcha ta ask ya somethin’.”

“Ask me what?” Jack asked, tilting his head to the side with a curious look. He didn’t seem surprised that Aster might have friends, which put him above the rest of the people Aster knew.

Aster took a deep breath. “I… We’ll ask ya when we get there. But before we do…” He put a hand on Jack’s arm, giving it a squeeze. “I need ya ta know you can say ‘no’. You don’t have to say yes. But think it over first, okay? Please?”

Jack looked concerned, twisting his hand so he could grasp Aster’s arm back. “Okay-?”

Aster nodded, figuring that was going to be the best he could hope for at the moment. “Alright. Follow me.” He said, opening a tunnel. Jack nodded, a serious set to his jaw, as if he were readying for a fight.

They dropped down into the tunnel, Aster led, the chill that Jack carried on his tail, until they started to approach North’s Workshop. He motioned Jack forward, dropping back just a bit. Jack nodded, taking point just as the tunnel ended, both of them leaping out and landing on their feet.

“Oh! There he is! Jack Frost!” North boomed, arms outstretched to greet Jack.

“... Santa?” Jack whispered back, startled. Sandy cheerfully waved at Jack, a gold snowflake appearing above his head as Tooth gave hurried instructions to her fairies. This stopped as soon as soon as she spotted Jack, giving a delighted little squeal.

“Hello, Jack!” She cheered, diving down to meet Jack face to face. “I’ve heard a lot about you. And your teeth!”

Aster’s hand met his face with a muted smack as she stuck her fingers into his mouth, cooing about his teeth being as white as freshly fallen snow as she did so. Her tiny fairies practically swooned at the news.

The Guardians had the worst manners, really they did.

“Tooth.” North chided. “Fingers out of mouth.”

“Sorry.” Tooth squeaked. “They’re lovely.” She added in a soft whisper to Jack and Aster would be willing to bet his favourite googies that her fingers would be back in Jack’s mouth within minutes.

“This is Sandman-” North continued, motioning to Sandy next to him, who true to form had fallen asleep again. North nudged Sandy with the back of his hand. “Sandy? Sandy? Wake up!”

Sandy startled, then smiled and waved cheerfully at Jack, who waved back with a bemused expression on his face.

“And of course you know the Easter Bunny-” North waved a negligent hand in Aster’s direction. Aster rolled his eyes. Of course. Save him for last.

"Wait." Jack held a hand up, stopping North in his tracks as Jack stared at Aster like he'd never seen him before. "-You're the EASTER BUNNY?!"

“Yes-?” Aster’s ears rose to their full height, then drifted back against his neck as everyone in the room stared incredulously at him. “Ya didn’t know-?”

Jack’s palm met his forehead with a resounding ‘smack’.

+fin+

**Author's Note:**

> Unintentional but amusing note, Winter Jasmine in flower language means 'Attachment' or 'Sensuality'. 
> 
> Ones in bold are Rufftoon's comics, unbolded are historical events mentioned in the fic. 
> 
> **[Legendary](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Legendary-P-01-389587348), [Myth Hunter 01](http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/post/59569560420/myth-hunter-01-the-beginning-of-another-young), [Myth Hunter 02](http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/post/60433930248/myth-hunter-02-first-part-here)** \- Young North   
> **[1412-ish](http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/post/36154217858/dreamworksanimation-travel-back-in-time-pitch) \- North and Manny Form the Guardians (600 years ago)  
> [Light and Shadow ](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Light-and-Shadow-P-1-340455034)\- [Spanish Inquisition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition)?  
> [1566](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Second-Movement-Battle-342768425) \- **[**Basel, Switzerland**  
> ](http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case485.htm) **[1712](http://dreamworksanimation.tumblr.com/post/35788579009/how-did-jack-frost-learn-to-fly-heres-learning) \- Jack Died **  
>  ****[1803](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Old-Hills-01-394343576) \- [Lousiana Purchase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase)    
>  22 March 1818 - Jack and Aster meet.  
>  **[Late 1800s](http://dreamworksanimation.tumblr.com/post/36081045945/jack-shows-off-his-resourcefulness-in-winter) \- Winter Spirit** (frock /[morning coat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_coat#Morning_coat) came into fashion 1850-ish)  
>  1846/47 - [Donner Party ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donner_Party)   
> 1861 to 1865 - [American Civil War  ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War)  
> May 10, 1869 - [Transcontinental Railroad  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_Railroad)13 April 1873 - [Easter Blizzard](http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~neadams/easter.htm)  
> 1888 - [The Long Winter  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Winter_\(novel\))12 Jan 1888 - [School House Blizzard  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Blizzard)11-14 March 1888 [The Great Blizzard of 1888](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1888)  
>  **[1914](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/1914-P-01-339593448) \- WWI [The Christmas Truce  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce)** 9 March 1918 - [Solar Storm  
> ](http://www.solarstorms.org/SRefStorms.html)Jan 1918 – Dec 1920 - [Flu Pandemic  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_flu_pandemic) **[1926](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Intermezzo-H-P-01-362790172) \- H.P. Lovecraft lived in NYC.** (Aug-Sep 1926 - [Call of Cthulhu ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_of_Cthulhu)is written, published 1928)  
>  **[1932](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Third-Movement-Depression-P-1-343461659)\- Great Depression**  
>  ****[Early 1930s](http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Coda-Dream-P-01-365811384)\- Coda Dream (Pitch begins collecting Dreamsand)  
>  1939 - [Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer comes out.  
> ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_the_Red-Nosed_Reindeer)1945 - 13 Jan [Herr meets Hare](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herr_Meets_Hare), written by [Michael Maltese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Maltese), who grew up in Brooklyn. (1 April Easter, 8 May [V-day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_in_Europe_Day) )  
> Winter 50/51- [Winter of Terror](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Terror)  
>  ****[Spring 1968](http://dreamworksanimation.tumblr.com/post/35855829276/ever-wondered-what-happened-that-fateful-easter-of) \- Easter Sunday, 14 April   
>  1970s - [Hoodies become popular](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodie). ( In Saskatchewan, hoodies are often called "[Bunny-hugs](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bunnyhug)".)  
> 9 April 1981 - [Hekla Erupts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekla#1980_and_1981)  
> 28 January 1986 - [Challenger Explosion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster)  
> Jan 1998 - [Ice Storm of 1998](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_ice_storm_of_1998)  
>  **5-8 April 2012 - Rise of the Guardians**


End file.
